Combining transcranial direct current stimulation with group cognitive behavioral therapy developed to treat rumination: a clinical pilot study.

Background: As part of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), rumination is a maladaptive cognitive response style to stress or negative mood which can increase the risk of depression and may prohibit complete recovery. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) both proved to be effective in decreasing rumination. However, the combined effects of tDCS and CBT interventions on rumination have not yet been explored.

A Psychoeducational CBT-based Group Intervention ("Drop It") for Repetitive Negative Thinking: Theoretical Concepts and Treatment Processes.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT)-such as worry and rumination-is an important transdiagnostic factor in the onset, course, and recurrence of depressive and anxiety disorders. This article describes a psychoeducational cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based group intervention entitled "Drop It" that focuses exclusively on treating RNT in patients with major depressive disorder and/or generalized anxiety disorder. The theoretical concepts and treatment goals of the intervention are outlined.

Treatment experiences during a cognitive behaviour therapy group intervention targeting repetitive negative thinking: A qualitative study.

Objectives: Treatment of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) focuses rather on individual than group cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) treatment. Additionally, little is known on how clients experienced these interventions. This study investigates clients' experiences on participating in a CBT group intervention targeting RNT (RNT-G).

Cognitive behavioral based group psychotherapy focusing on repetitive negative thinking: Decreased uncontrollability of rumination is related to brain perfusion increases in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a core process underlying various psychiatric disorders. 'Uncontrollability of rumination (UOR)' is one the most maladaptive factors of rumination, but little is known on how cognitive behavioral focused RNT psychotherapy may alter brain activity. In a subsample of 47 patients suffering from RNT who also underwent brain imaging (registered RCT trial NCT01983033), we evaluated the effect of cognitive behavioral based group psychotherapy (CBGP) (n = 25) as compared to a delayed treatment control group (DTCG) (n = 22) on frontolimbic brain perfusion with a focus on UOR.

Prefrontal TDCS attenuates medial prefrontal connectivity upon being criticized in individuals scoring high on perceived criticism.

The mechanisms by which transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) influences emotional processing - and whether this is related to individual vulnerability for psychopathology - are still poorly understood. The present study aimed to investigate if one prefrontal tDCS session modulates mood and neural functional connectivity after being exposed to negative information differently in individuals low or high in perceived criticism (PC), which has been related to vulnerability for psychiatric illness. In a randomized cross-over design, one session of MRI-compatible prefrontal tDCS (neuronavigated placement of the anodal electrode at the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the cathodal electrode at the right supraorbital region; vs.

One MRI-compatible tDCS session attenuates ventromedial cortical perfusion when exposed to verbal criticism: The role of perceived criticism.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a potential treatment strategy for mood and anxiety disorders, but how this application may influence emotional processes, and whether this is related to individual characteristics, is not well understood. It has been proposed that perceived criticism (PC) may represent a vulnerability factor for the development of such mental illnesses. To decipher whether neural mechanisms of action of tDCS potentially differ depending on PC status (low vs.

Left prefrontal neuronavigated electrode localization in tDCS: 10-20 EEG system versus MRI-guided neuronavigation.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) involves positioning two electrodes at specifically targeted locations on the human scalp. In neuropsychiatric research, the anode is often placed over the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), while the cathode is positioned over a contralateral cephalic region above the eye, referred-to as the supraorbital region. Although the 10-20 EEG system is frequently used to locate the DLPFC, due to inter-subject brain variability, this method may lack accuracy.

The effect of transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex on implicit self-esteem is mediated by rumination after criticism.

It has been proposed that a crucial link between cognitive (i.e., self-schemas) and biological vulnerability is prefrontal control.

Increased left prefrontal brain perfusion after MRI compatible tDCS attenuates momentary ruminative self-referential thoughts.

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive electrical stimulation technique, assumed to influence cognition and emotional processing.

Objective: However, it is unclear how tDCS influences spontaneous cognitive processes such as momentary self-referential thoughts on the neuronal level.

Methods: Forty healthy female volunteers participated in a single session sham-controlled crossover tDCS study while being in the MRI scanner.

Does a single neurostimulation session really affect mood in healthy individuals? A systematic review.

Non-invasive neurostimulation or neuromodulation techniques such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) were welcomed as promising tools for investigating cognitive and mood processes in healthy participants as well as in patients suffering from neuropsychiatric conditions. Due to their rather easy application, both modalities have been used to experimentally examine prefrontal cognitive and emotional control. However, it remains unclear whether a single session of such stimulation may affect the mood of participants in a healthy state.

The effect of a single HF-rTMS session over the left DLPFC on the physiological stress response as measured by heart rate variability.

Objective: Previous research has demonstrated that prefrontal activity is related to control over stress responses. However, the causal mechanisms are not well understood. In this study we investigated the possible influence of brain stimulation on the physiological stress response system.

The regulation of positive and negative social feedback: A psychophysiological study.

Everyday social evaluations are psychologically potent and trigger self-reflective thoughts and feelings. The present study sought to examine the psychophysiological impact of such evaluations using eye tracking, pupillometry, and heart-rate variability. Fifty-nine healthy adult volunteers received rigged social feedback (criticism and praise) based on their photograph.

To be or want to be: disentangling the role of actual versus ideal self in implicit self-esteem.

A growing body of work suggests that both depressed and non-depressed individuals display implicit positivity towards the self. In the current study, we examined whether this positivity can be underpinned by two qualitatively distinct propositions related to actual ('I am good') or ideal ('I want to be good') self-esteem. Dysphoric and non-dysphoric participants completed a self-esteem Implicit Association Test (IAT) as well an Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) targeting their actual self-esteem and an IRAP targeting ideal self-esteem.

The interplay between the anticipation and subsequent online processing of emotional stimuli as measured by pupillary dilatation: the role of cognitive reappraisal.

Emotions can occur during an emotion-eliciting event, but they can also arise when anticipating the event. We used pupillary responses, as a measure of effortful cognitive processing, to test whether the anticipation of an emotional stimulus (positive and negative) influences the subsequent online processing of that emotional stimulus. Moreover, we tested whether individual differences in the habitual use of emotion regulation strategies are associated with pupillary responses during the anticipation and/or online processing of this emotional stimulus.

Accelerated HF-rTMS in treatment-resistant unipolar depression: Insights from subgenual anterior cingulate functional connectivity.

Objectives: Intensified repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) may result in fast clinical responses in treatment resistant depression (TRD). In these kinds of patients, subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) functional connectivity (FC) seems to be consistently disturbed. So far, no de novo data on the relationship between sgACC FC changes and clinical efficacy of accelerated rTMS were available.

Intensive HF-rTMS treatment in refractory medication-resistant unipolar depressed patients.

Background: Major depression is a worldwide severe mental health problem. Unfortunately, not all depressed patients respond to pharmacotherapy or psychotherapy, even when adhering to treatment guidelines. Even though current guidelines do not in particular advocate repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) in refractory treatment resistant depression (TRD), using more intensive stimulation parameters might hold promise as a valuable alternative.

tDCS over the left prefrontal cortex enhances cognitive control for positive affective stimuli.

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation technique with promising results for enhancing cognitive information processes. So far, however, research has mainly focused on the effects of tDCS on cognitive control operations for non-emotional material. Therefore, our aim was to investigate the effects on cognitive control considering negative versus positive material.

Self-esteem revisited: performance on the implicit relational assessment procedure as a measure of self- versus ideal self-related cognitions in dysphoria.

Although depression is characterised by low self-esteem as measured by questionnaires, research using implicit measures of self-esteem has failed to reveal the expected differences between depressed and non-depressed individuals. In this study, we used an implicit measure which enables the differentiation of ideal self- and actual self-esteem, through the introduction of propositions: "I am" versus "I want to be". We measured implicit relational associations about actual and ideal self in low (N=27) versus high dysphoric (N=29) undergraduates.