Scrutinizing and Promoting Mindfulness Via New Technologies

University Hospital Basel

Status: Completed

Conditions: Working Memory; Mindfulness; Mood; Stress

Treatments: Behavioral: Mind Wandering; Other: Sham RT-fMRI-NF; Other: Contingent RT-fMRI-NF; Behavioral: Mindfulness

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03148678

GRNP_2013S1A2A2035364_1_2

Details and patient eligibility

About

The overall goal of the outlined study is to scrutinize and to promote mindfulness via new technologies using a combination of smartphone-based assessment and micro-interventions, fMRI and real-time fMRI-neurofeedback.

Full description

The overall goal of the outlined study is to scrutinize and to promote mindfulness via new technologies using a combination of smartphone-based assessment and micro-interventions, fMRI and real-time fMRI-neurofeedback. More specifically, we aim to i) evaluate whether smartphone-based micro-interventions affect mindfulness, stress, and mood, ii) evaluate whether mindfulness, its neural substrate, and related mental and physiological functions can be modified by training volitional control over brain activity by means of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback (RT-fMRI-NF), iii) differentiate neural activation patterns during mindfulness vs. mind wandering.

Enrollment: 84 patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Right-handedness
• Ability to participate in study procedures

Exclusion criteria

• Color-Blindness
• Present or past psychological or psychiatric therapy
• Presence of cardiovascular disease
• History of major cerebral injury
• Medical MRI contraindication

Trial design

Primary purpose: Basic Science

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Sequential Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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84 participants in 4 patient groups

Mindfulness first; Contingent RT-fMRI-NF

Experimental group

Description:

Participants start with the mindfulness intervention followed by the mind wandering intervention. The arm type "experimental" refers to contingent RT-fMRI-NF, during which participants are provided with contingent RT-fMRI-NF of their own brain activity.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness

Other: Contingent RT-fMRI-NF

Behavioral: Mind Wandering

Mindfulness first; Non-Contingent Neurofeedback

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Participants start with the mindfulness intervention followed by the mind wandering intervention. The arm type "sham comparator" refers to non-contingent RT-fMRI-NF, during which participants are provided with sham RT-fMRI-NF of brain activity of previously recorded subject.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness

Other: Sham RT-fMRI-NF

Behavioral: Mind Wandering

Mind wandering first; Contingent Neurofeedback

Experimental group

Description:

Participants start with the mind wandering intervention followed by the mindfulness intervention. The arm type "experimental" refers to contingent RT-fMRI-NF, during which participants are provided with contingent RT-fMRI-NF of their own brain activity.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness

Other: Contingent RT-fMRI-NF

Behavioral: Mind Wandering

Mind wandering first; Non-Contingent Neurofeedback

Sham Comparator group

Description:

Participants start with the mind wandering intervention followed by the mindfulness intervention. The arm type "sham comparator" refers to non-contingent RT-fMRI-NF, during which participants are provided with sham RT-fMRI-NF of brain activity of previously recorded subject.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mindfulness

Other: Sham RT-fMRI-NF

Behavioral: Mind Wandering