Spirit Research

A trial links mindfulness-based therapy to changes in responses to opioid cues.

Newswise reports that researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai led a randomized clinical trial linking a mindfulness-based behavioral therapy to altered brain responses to drug-related cues in people with opioid use disorder. The therapy was used alongside medication treatment.

According to News-Medical, the study published in JAMA Psychiatry also linked shifts in brain activity to larger decreases in reported opioid cravings. Researchers used brain imaging to examine responses to drug-related images and other rewards.

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The trial compared two therapies#

The trial included 86 patients at Samaritan Daytop Village, a long-term residential treatment facility in New York, UA.NEWS reports. Each patient was given methadone or buprenorphine. Random assignment placed participants in either Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement, known as MORE, or a supportive therapy that included education.

Both therapies lasted eight weeks and followed the same format, according to UA.NEWS. MORE combines mindfulness practices with cognitive reappraisal, an approach to changing how triggers are interpreted and responded to. It also includes a focus on positive everyday experiences.

Senior author Rita Z. Goldstein said people with opioid use disorder may continue to experience cravings and face relapse despite receiving medication. Goldstein described methadone and buprenorphine as established treatments and said additional approaches could support recovery, according to Newswise.

Brain scans tracked responses to cues#

Participants had functional magnetic resonance imaging scans before and after treatment, UA.NEWS reports. Drug-related images, natural rewards and scenes from Trainspotting were used by researchers to assess responses. According to News-Medical, the study focused on the prefrontal cortex, a brain region involved in behavior regulation, decision-making and reward evaluation.

During attempts to reappraise drug-related images, the MORE group showed lower activity linked to those cues in the lateral prefrontal cortex than the comparison group, UA.NEWS reports. Within the MORE group, greater changes in responses to the cues and higher activity while viewing positive food images were associated with larger reported reductions in cravings.

According to UA.NEWS, the increase in time spent abstaining from opioids was greater for the MORE group than for the comparison group at a follow-up about four months after treatment ended. News-Medical also reported the difference at the follow-up visit.

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