by Cognitive behavioral therapy individuals with skills to cope with daily difficulties, promotes healthier behaviors, and challenges negative thinking patterns. But can changing thoughts and actions lead to lasting changes in the brain? A recent study from Stanford Medicine explores this idea, showing that CBT can alter brain circuits when applied to the right patients.
The research involved adults suffering from both major depression and obesity and focused on problem solving therapy, a form of Cognitive behavioral therapy aimed at improving cognitive skills like planning, problem solving, and filtering distractions. Participants were taught by therapists to identify real life challenges and come up with solutions, engaging a specific brain network known as the cognitive control circuit.
Williams’ lab previously identified six types of depression based on brain activity, indicating that about 25% of people with depression have impairments in their cognitive control circuits. These individuals were chosen for the study since they typically respond poorly to antidepressants, with a success rate of only 17%.
In the study, 108 participants were divided into two groups: 59 received a year of problem solving therapy, while 49 received standard care.
The goal was to see if problem solving therapy could alter the cognitive control circuit. Analysis of the scans revealed that those receiving standard care showed reduced cognitive control activity over time, which correlated with declining problem solving skills. In contrast, participants in the therapy group demonstrated the opposite: decreased brain activity corresponded with better problem solving abilities.
This suggests that therapy helped the brain process information more efficiently, requiring fewer resources from the cognitive control circuit to accomplish the same tasks.
While both groups showed overall improvement in depression severity, further analysis of a 20 item depression scale highlighted that the symptom most tied to cognitive control feeling that everything requires effort significantly improved due to more efficient cognitive processing in the therapy group.
These results suggest that CBT can specifically target the cognitive aspects of depression, which have the most profound effects on real world functioning and disability.
Remarkably, changes in cognitive control circuit activity were detected just two months into the study for the therapy group, indicating that real world problem solving quickly impacted the brain.
As Zhang stated, “This research not only advances science but is poised to transform many lives.”
Contributions came from researchers at the University of Washington, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and The Ohio State University.
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1. Source: Coherent Market Insights, Public sources, Desk research
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