MSI PI Kathryn Cullen (associate professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences) is leading a study to determine whether using brain stimulation combined with mindful breathing could help young people with depression. Participants in the study use mindful breathing, a calming technique. In some of those participants, researchers add noninvasive brain stimulation using a cranial cap. The researchers are using MRI and EEG to measure any adjustments in neural networks. They also use clinical sessions to track mood changes and games and tests to see if there are any cognitive changes.
Articles about this research project appear on the U of M News site: Study Tests Revolutionary Treatments for Depression and on the Minneapolis Star Tribune website: Where Discovery Creates Hope.
Professor Cullen uses MSI resources to analyze multi-modal neuroimaging data generated in research into the neural circuitry underlying depression in adolescents.