White Matter and Stress Reduction Effects of Mindfulness Training

PROJECT SUMMARY Janine M. Dutcher, PhD aims to understand the brain mechanisms for behavioral interventions for stress reduction and health. The research and training plan described in this proposal will strengthen her experience in neuroimaging with

additional training in structural neuroimaging, and launch her independent career as a multi-modal health neuroscientist.

To enable this training, Dr. Dutcher will analyze data from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of mindfulness training in stressed employees. This study features functional and structural neuroimaging, and stress assessments—and experience with these data will help the PI build a career that explores the brain mechanisms for stress reduction interventions.

Candidate: Dr. Dutcher is a Special Faculty Researcher in the Psychology department at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). She received her doctorate at UCLA in social and health psychology. Her work focused on understanding the neural mechanisms of stress reduction, the neuroscience of inflammation and social experience, and the relationship

between reward and stress. She has worked primarily on cross-sectional and experimental studies, using functional neuroimaging methods for testing neural mechanisms. She plans to receive training in structural neuroimaging and RCTs to advance her studies on the longitudinal brain mechanisms for behavioral interventions.

Training Goals: Dr. Dutcher aims to learn more about RCT study design, intervention integrity, and mindfulness meditation programs—goals that her mentor Dr. Creswell can aid in. Analytically, Dr. Dutcher will receive training in diffusion spectrum imaging from Dr. Verstynen, learning statistical techniques for linking longitudinal structural and

functional brain changes, and assessing those relationships as a mechanism for the benefits that interventions have on

stress and health. Finally, Dr. Dutcher will hone the professional skills that will support her pathway to independence, including grant writing, networking, and more mentoring opportunities through managing research teams. Mentors/Environment: Dr. Dutcher has overseen the day-to-day execution of an RCT exploring the effects of a

mindfulness training program on stress and burnout in a stressed employee population with Dr. Creswell. She and Dr. Verstynen coordinated to add diffusion spectrum and functional neuroimaging pre- and post-intervention. Thus, she will be leveraging an existing dataset and existing collaborations to achieve her training and research goals. She has the

resources and support of CMU, proximity to other collaborators, and the ideal mentoring team for executing this proposal. Research: Although the literature has established mindfulness as an effective stress reduction intervention, the brain

mechanisms are as yet unclear. The purpose of this project is to analyze data from a rigorous RCT of a 30-day smartphone mindfulness program compared to an active control program (problem solving) to evaluate how mindfulness changes the brain in a sample of stressed employees (N=100). Analyses will examine changes in white matter integrity over the 30-

day intervention, compared to control, and link these changes in white matter to changes in stress. This project has the potential for mapping the brain mechanisms for stress reduction, providing greater understanding of how to effectively intervene and reduce the risk of stress-related health conditions in the population.