Dissecting De-automatization

Utah System of Higher Education (USHE)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Mindfulness

Treatments: Behavioral: Active Listening; Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation Training

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03456505

IRB_00088540

Details and patient eligibility

About

The proposed study will assess the effects of mindfulness meditation training on an eye blink conditioning (EBC) task in a sample of novice meditators. This methodology will allow investigation of whether mindfulness interrupts classical conditioning through the process of de-automatization. Implicit learning rates, as reflective of unconscious habit formation and measured by the frequency of conditioned responses during the EBC, will be a main outcome of interest. The proposed study will also assess the effects of mindfulness meditation training on an emotion regulation (ER) task, with a specific focus on reappraisal of negative images and savoring of positive images.

Enrollment: 53 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 60 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

1. Age 18-60,
2. willingness to participate in study interventions and assessments.

Exclusion criteria

1. Prior experience with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, or Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention, or a history of meditation practice,
2. Learning disability, significant memory problems or significant attentional disruptions as determined by self-report,
3. History of head injury resulting in loss of consciousness.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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53 participants in 2 patient groups

Mindfulness

Experimental group

Description:

Participants randomly assigned to the mindfulness meditation condition will meet for five, 15-minute sessions, in which they will receive training in basic mindfulness skills (Wallace, 2006).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation Training

Active Listening

Active Comparator group

Description:

Participants randomly assigned to the active listening condition will meet for five, 15-minute sessions, in which they will listen to Gilbert White's The Natural History of Selborne.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Active Listening