An 8-month daily guided intensive meditation-based intervention (iMI) added to a general rehabilitation program reduced persistent hallucinations and delusions and improved health-related quality of life in male inpatients with treatment-refractory schizophrenia. In a randomized trial of 64 participants, those receiving iMI showed significantly greater reductions in Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total scores, positive symptoms, and hallucination/delusion items at both 3 and 8 months compared with rehabilitation alone. Treatment response rates (at least 25% reduction) for these measures were higher in the iMI group at 8 months. The iMI group also reported better physical activity and mindfulness skills. Longer iMI duration produced stronger benefits.
Chronic stress triggers depression by activating a gut-immune-brain pathway. In mice exposed to chronic restraint stress, gut microbiota changes caused small intestinal γδ T cells to migrate to the brain, where they released interleukin-17A (IL-17A). This IL-17A impaired a mitochondrial cleanup process called mitophagy in the hippocampus, leading to reduced energy production, damaged synapses, and depression-like behavior. Blocking γδ T cell migration, removing a key receptor on these cells, or giving the antidepressant arketamine all restored mitophagy and improved behavior. The findings identify a specific chain from gut microbes to immune cells to brain mitochondria that drives stress-induced depression, and point to arketamine as a potential treatment targeting this pathway.