Post-chemo cancer survivors have less cognitive impairment after mindfulness training
Posted 08.26.2020 | by AMRA
Up to 78% of women undergoing chemotherapy for cancer report impairment in cognitive functioning, commonly referred to as “chemo fog.” These complaints are accompanied by functional connectivity changes in regions of the brain involved in attention and executive functioning. Functional connectivity is a measure of the degree to which different brain regions act in tandem. While the efficacy of mindfulness training for cancer-related emotional difficulties is supported, the effect on cognitive impairment remains unknown.
Gucht et al. [Cancer] tested mindfulness training against a wait-list control on cancer survivors’ subjective and objective cognitive impairment, psychological symptoms, and brain connectivity.
The researchers randomly assigned 33 Belgian female breast cancer survivors (average age = 45 years) with self-reported subjective cognitive impairment to either mindfulness training or a wait-list control. Mindfulness training was based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), and delivered in four group-based sessions, each lasting three hours. Home practice was encouraged and brief between-session telephone calls for encouragement and support were offered over an 8-week period.
Participants were assessed at baseline, one week after the intervention, and at 3 months after on a subjective measure of cognitive functioning and an objective battery of attention, concentration, memory, executive functioning, and processing speed. Other subjective measures were used to assess emotional distress, fatigue, and mindfulness (Comprehensive Inventory of Mindfulness Experiences).
Participants also underwent resting-state fMRI brain scans at all three assessment points. Six mindfulness participants and one control did not complete the study.
Results showed the mindfulness training group had significantly greater improvement in subjective cognitive impairment at post-treatment (Hedge’s g=0.99) and follow-up (g=0.95) than controls. The mindfulness group also had significantly greater decreases in […]