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Diazepam and Jacobson's Progressive Relaxation Show Similar Attenuating Short-Term Effects on Stress-Related Brain Glucose Consumption

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 April 2020

P. Pifarré ,
M. Simó ,
J.-D. Gispert ,
P. Plaza ,
A. Fernández  and
J. Pujol
P. Pifarré*
Affiliation:
Nuclear Medicine Department, CRC-Hospital Quiron, Departament Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
M. Simó
Affiliation:
Hospital Universitari de la Vall d’Hebron, Nuclear Medicine Department, Departament de Medicina, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, (UAB), Barcelona, Spain
J.-D. Gispert
Affiliation:
Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Neuroimaing Unit, Barcelona, Spain
P. Plaza
Affiliation:
Nuclear Medicine Department, CRC-Hospital Quiron, Barcelona, Spain
A. Fernández
Affiliation:
Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital de Sant Pau. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
J. Pujol
Affiliation:
MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain, Centro Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM G21, Barcelona, Spain
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail address:palomapifarremontaner@yahoo.es (P. Pifarré).
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Abstract

A non-pharmacological method to reduce anxiety is “progressive relaxation” (PR). The aim of the method is to reduce mental stress and associated mental processes by means of progressive suppression of muscle tension. The study was addressed to evaluate changes in brain glucose metabolism induced by PR in patients under a stressing state generated by a diagnostic medical intervention. The effect of PR was compared to a dose of sublingual diazepam, with the prediction that both interventions would be associated with a reduction in brain metabolism. Eighty-four oncological patients were assessed with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography. Maps of brain glucose distribution from 28 patients receiving PR were compared with maps from 28 patients receiving sublingual diazepam and with 28 patients with no treatment intervention. Compared to reference control subjects, the PR and diazepam groups showed a statistically significant, bilateral and generalized cortical hypometabolism. Regions showing the most prominent changes were the prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex. No significant differences were identified in the direct comparison between relaxation technique and sublingual diazepam. Our findings suggest that relaxation induced by a physical/psychological procedure can be as effective as a reference anxiolytic in reducing brain activity during a stressful state.

Keywords

BenzodiazepinesAnxiety DisordersNeuroimagine
Type
Original article
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 30 , Issue 2 , February 2015 , pp. 187 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier Masson SAS 2014

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Footnotes

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Tel.: +0034935540320.

b

Tel.: +0034932746122.

c

Tel.: +0034933550420.

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