Project Summary
Chronic inflammation is highly prevalent and has deleterious effects on brain health, including links to brain
structural abnormalities1, neural metabolic changes2, psychiatric disorders2, cognitive dysfunction3, and aging-
related diseases4,5. Given the increasing prevalence of chronic inflammatory diseases6–9, a better understanding
of interventions that may reduce the impacts of inflammation on brain health is imperative10. A growing body of
literature demonstrates positive impacts of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on mental and physical
health11–15, brain structure and function14,16–19, and chronic inflammation20. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory
disease that is uniquely well-suited to examine the protective effects of MBIs across multiple dimensions of health
because it is sensitive to changes in stress21–23, highly prevalent and comorbid with depression24,25, and has been
associated with compromises in brain structure26–28 and function29,30. The first aim of this proposal is to 1) assess
changes in brain health indices in individuals with asthma from pre- to post- 8-week Mindfulness-Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) intervention and at 3-month follow-up (n=46). I will utilize a novel, whole-brain voxel-
wise assessment of DWI, modeled using diffusion tensor (DTI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density
imaging (NODDI), which provides meaningful, clinically relevant tissue parameters of white and grey matter
microstructure and will enable detection of changes at a high spatial resolution. Additionally, I will examine changes
in biomarkers of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in concert with DTI and NODDI metrics, a novel
approach which will strengthen our confidence in the underlying meaning of changes in DWI metrics. The second
aim of this proposal is to 2) assess the association of these brain health indices with indices of whole-person
health and wellbeing, from pre- to post- 8-week MBSR intervention and at 3-month follow-up (n=46). While
previous work has reported structural and functional brain changes related to MBIs, a deeper understanding of
how these changes are related to other aspects of whole-person health is needed. High stress and poor sleep are
drivers of systemic inflammation31 and brain microstructural deterioration32–35, and their improvement may link MBIs
to salubrious outcomes. Sleep quality, life stress, and self-reported wellbeing will serve as indices of a psychological
dimension of whole-person health, and asthma severity and airway inflammation will serve as indices of a disease-
specific dimension of whole-person health, contributing to our understanding of how changes in brain health after
MBI relate to experiential outcomes. The impact of a behavioral intervention on the interrelations of brain- and
whole-person health indices in asthma has not previously been investigated and represents a potential for
substantial public health impact given the growing evidence of the effects of asthma on the brain and the growing
prevalence of asthma. Finally, this training fellowship will facilitate valuable training opportunities in DWI analysis,
statistical methods, psychoneuroimmunology and contemplative neuroscience education, experimental design and
data collection, writing, public-speaking, mentorship, and ethics.