"Anxiety disorders plague more than one in four http adolescents between the ages of  and  and many of them are treated with antidepressants and other medications to try and help them live a relatively healthy childhood. But a team of researchers from the University of Cincinnati set out to explore other treatment options that focus more on the mind and less on pharmaceutical solutions.  Their study httponline.liebertpub.comdoi.cap.. published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology recruited nine participants who were diagnosed with anxiety disorders between  and  years of age. These conditions included generalized social and separation anxiety disorder as well as having a parent with bipolar disorder. Over the course of  weeks each participant underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI scans while they practiced mindfulnessbased cognitive therapy https a wide range of theraputic techiniques that include meditation yoga and learning how to pay nonjudgmental attention to ones life.  These integrative approaches expand traditional treatments and offer new strategies for coping with psychological distress said the studys coauthor Sian Cotton director of the UCs Center for Integrative Health and Wellness in a statement http_releasesuocassc.php. Mindfulnessbased therapeutic interventions http promote the use of meditative practices to increase presentmoment awareness of conscious thoughts feelings and body sensations in an effort to manage negative experiences more effectively. Children who are at a high risk for bipolar disorder http or other anxiety disorders such as the participants often have poor coping skills when confronted by stress and only a lucky few get help. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America http  percent of children with a diagnosed anxiety disorder and  percent of those diagnosed with depression do not receive treatment. Some mental health professionals have suggested that mindfulness exercises http can help bridge the treatment gap and there is some encouraging if early evidence showing that these techniques can be used to prevent relapses of depression or anxiety.  Cotton noted the anxiety of their patients was significantly reduced following treatment and the more mindfulness they practiced the less anxious they felt. Both findings reaffirm the potential that mindfulness therapy could bring to the table. If nothing else it might allow people who would be reluctant to take medication more treatments to choose from. Increasingly patients and families are asking for additional therapeutic options in addition to traditional medicationbased treatments that have proven effectiveness for improved symptom reduction. Mindfulnessbased therapies http for mood disorders is one such example with promising evidence said Cotton adding the university is both studying and implenting these therapies.   After the week experiment Cotton and his colleagues found mindfulness therapy increased neural activity in a part of the brain that plays in a role in processing cognitive and emotion information known as the cingulate. The therapy was also able to increase brain activity in the insula a part of the brain that helps monitor how the body feels psychologically.  This raises the possibility that treatmentrelated increases in brain activity during emotional processing may improve emotional processing in anxious youth who are at risk for developing bipolar disorder said fellow coauthor Dr. Jeffrey Strawn a professor in UCs Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience as well as director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program in a statement http_releasesuocassc.php. The path from understanding the effects of psychotherapy on brain activity to the identification of treatment response is a challenging one and will require additional studies of emotional processing circuits. Source Strawn JR Cotton S Luberto CM et al. Neural Function Before and After MindfulnessBased Cognitive Therapy in Anxious Adolescents at Risk for Developing Bipolar Disorder. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. ."