A proof-of-concept trial of a treatment combining mindfulness with behavioral sleep strategies (PUMAS) for pregnant women with insomnia found large reductions in insomnia, depression, and cognitive arousal. Among 12 participants with insomnia disorder (five also had depression), 83.3% achieved insomnia remission after six telemedicine sessions. All five depressed patients remitted from depression. Nocturnal cognitive arousal, perinatal-focused rumination, and sleep effort all showed large improvements. Patients rated sleep restriction and guided meditations as most helpful and were highly satisfied with the telemedicine format and meditation app.
Meditation practices, which have shown therapeutic benefits for conditions like depression, pain, addiction, and anxiety, have been studied with neuroimaging over the past decade. However, existing neuroscientific models are based on small, heterogeneous datasets, limiting generalizability and replicability. The ENIGMA-Meditation consortium is the first worldwide collaborative effort to conduct systematic meta- and mega-analyses of globally distributed neuroimaging data using standardized methods. This framework aims to improve statistical power and address multidomain heterogeneity in meditation practice types, experience, and experimental design. The consortium will generate rigorous neuroscientific insights into the mechanisms underlying meditation's therapeutic effects on psychological and cognitive attributes.