Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 28, 2026
Association Between Sleep Quality and Cognitive Symptoms in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder
Published on: April 26, 2024
Decreased accumbens-amygdala connectivity is associated with sleep improvement in late-life depression following
Qianwen Wang1, Hui Li1, Shichang Wang1
1Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), Beijing, 100191, China.
Background:
Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) may improve sleep in major depressive disorder. This secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial examined the effects of adjunctive MBCT on sleep quality and explored neural correlates of sleep improvement in late-life depression (LLD).
Methods:
Sixty participants with LLD were randomized to 8-week MBCT plus Treatment as Usual (TAU) or TAU alone (ChiCTR1800017725). Subjective and objective sleep quality were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and cardiopulmonary coupling (CPC), respectively. In the MBCT+TAU group, post-treatment differences in functional connectivity between the meditation and resting states were examined, and associations with changes in sleep outcomes were analyzed.
Results:
Global PSQI scores showed greater short-term improvement in the MBCT+TAU group than in the TAU group (p for interaction = 0.02). At Week 8, the between-group difference in change in global PSQI scores was -3.80 (95% CI, -6.50 to -1.10), but was nonsignificant at 3-month follow-up. Stable sleep also increased more in the MBCT+TAU group (difference in change, 0.94 h; 95% CI, 0.17 to 1.71). Reduced right nucleus accumbens-left amygdala functional connectivity during meditation relative to the resting state was associated with greater increases in stable sleep duration (r = 0.45, p = 0.013).
Conclusion:
Adjunctive MBCT was associated with greater short-term improvement in subjective and objective sleep quality in LLD. Reduced right nucleus accumbens-left amygdala functional connectivity during meditation relative to the resting state was associated with increased stable sleep duration. MBCT may represent a promising adjunctive non-pharmacological intervention for sleep disturbances in LLD.
