Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37922071›Full record

Trial reportJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2025

The impact of mindfulness on working memory-related brain activation in breast cancer survivors with cognitive complaints.

Michelle Melis, Jeroen Blommaert, Katleen Van der Gucht, Ann Smeets, Brenna C McDonald, Stefan Sunaert, Andra Smith, Sabine Deprez

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 6 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Michelle MelisDepartment of Imaging and Pathology, Translational MRI, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49-box 7003, 3000, Leuven, UZ, Belgium. michelle.melis@kuleuven.be.
Jeroen BlommaertLeuven Cancer Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Katleen Van der GuchtLeuven Mindfulness Centre, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Ann SmeetsLeuven Cancer Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Brenna C McDonaldDepartment of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Stefan SunaertDepartment of Imaging and Pathology, Translational MRI, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49-box 7003, 3000, Leuven, UZ, Belgium.
Andra SmithSchool of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
Sabine DeprezDepartment of Imaging and Pathology, Translational MRI, KU Leuven, Herestraat 49-box 7003, 3000, Leuven, UZ, Belgium.
KU Leuven · BEVIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research · BEIndiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis · USNeuroelectronics Research Flanders · BEUniversity of Ottawa · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeCancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) has been associated with altered brain activation after chemotherapy in areas related to working memory. Hence, improving working memory capacity and associated brain activation might aid in the recovery of CRCI. In this study, we investigated the potential of a mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) to impact working memory-related brain activation.

methodsFemale breast cancer survivors reporting cognitive complaints (N=117) were randomized into a mindfulness (n=43; MBI), physical training (n=36; PT), or waitlist control condition (n=38; WL). Participants completed MRI scans before the intervention, immediately after, and three months post-intervention. Task-based functional MRI was used to measure differences between groups over time in working memory-related brain activation while performing a visual-verbal n-back task.

resultsData of 83 participants (32/26/25 MBI/PT/WL) was included. Compared to the waitlist group, MBI participants showed reduced task-related activation in the right middle frontal and angular gyrus and increased activation in the right dorsal posterior cingulate cortex over time. Compared to the physical training group, MBI participants showed reduced brain activation in the bilateral superior parietal lobule and right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex over time. No differences between physical training and no intervention were identified.

conclusionThis study showed that an 8-week mindfulness-based intervention can significantly alter brain activation across brain regions involved in working memory, attentional control, and emotion processing during performance of a working memory task. This might aid in the recovery of CRCI. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: Mindfulness might alter brain activation patterns while performing a working memory task, which might ultimately aid in restoring higher order cognitive functions.

Indexed as

BrainBreast NeoplasmsCancer SurvivorsCognitive DysfunctionMemory, Short-TermMindfulnessAdultFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMiddle AgedBreast cancerCognitionfMRIMindfulnessTask basedWorking memory

Identifiers

PMID37922071
PMCPMC11925989
OpenAlexW4388299177

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.