Health, Mental Health
Conditions
Brief summary
This study is focused on the brain mechanisms and peripheral biological correlates of two different forms of meditation--mindfulness-based and compassion/loving-kindness. Project 1 is focused on the impact of compassion/loving-kindness meditation on emotional reactivity and emotion regulation. Project 2 is focused on the neural and behavioral correlates of mindfulness meditation and attention and pain regulation. In addition, Project 2 will examine the relations between changes in oscillatory rhythms during meditation and attention and pain processing. Project 3 will examine the impact of meditation on spontaneous brain activity during sleep. This project will also examine the impact of intensive meditation on regional changes in slow wave activity during subsequent sleep. Each of these projects will be conducted on the same participants so that interrelations among the various measures collected in the different projects can be examined. We believe that this study will dramatically advance the understanding of the mechanisms by which meditation produces changes in behavioral and biological processes.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALDay of intensive meditation practice
Long-term meditators practice for \ 6 hours of meditation at each time point
8-week class designed to enhance well-being through training in mindfulness meditation
BEHAVIORALHealth Enhancement Program (HEP)
8-week class designed to enhance well-being through training in physical activity, functional movement, music therapy, and nutrition
Sponsors
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
FACTORIAL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
25 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* MRI safe
Exclusion criteria
* Not available for scheduled visits or applicable interventions * Current medical conditions that may affect outcome measures, including chronic inflammatory diseases, asthma, serious mental health diagnoses, chronic pain conditions, a personal history of seizures * Regularly taking medications that may affect outcome measures, including pain medications, corticosteroids, immuno-suppressants, prescription sleep medications, psychotropic medications * Alcohol or non-prescription drug problems * Night-shift worker * Diagnosed sleep disorder or habits, such as late bedtime, that would prevent enough sleep in the laboratory * Previous training related to one of the two active interventions for meditation naive participants * Unwillingness or inability to engage in intervention activities as determined by participant or their primary care physician * Currently pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant in the next year * Currently nursing * Current IUD
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| MRI BOLD | Pre, Post, Follow-up (WL & LTP) |
| EEG | Pre, post, & follow-up (WL & LTP) |
| Salivary Cortisol | Pre, post, & follow-up (WL & LTP) |
| Behavioral | Pre, post, & follow-up (WL & LTP) |
| Self-report | Pre, post, & follow-up (WL & LTP) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Self-report | Pre, post, & follow-up (WL & LTP) |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed