Examining the Effects of Reduced Environmental Stimulation on the Brain
Condition: Anxiety
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The studies proposed in this protocol aim to explore the anxiolytic properties of floating as
      it relates to the central and autonomic nervous system.
    

Detailed description: 
      The human brain is constantly bombarded with sensory information from the external world.
      This series of studies aim to explore the effects of reducing environmental stimulation using
      specially designed floatation pools that minimize visual, auditory, tactile, proprioceptive,
      and thermal input to the brain. Previous research has shown that "floating" in this unique
      setting can significantly reduce levels of anxiety, stress, blood pressure, and cortisol,
      while significantly increasing levels of both subjective and physiological forms of
      relaxation. Much of this past research contained various methodological weaknesses, including
      small sample sizes, lack of a control group, and no longitudinal follow-up. Moreover, very
      little is known about the potential benefits of floating in clinical populations, and
      essentially nothing is known about the effects of floating on the brain. The studies proposed
      in this protocol aim to further explore floating's potentially salubrious effect on the
      autonomic nervous system, while beginning to investigate its largely unknown effect on the
      central nervous system. The researchers have attempted to improve upon the weaknesses of past
      research by using larger sample sizes, a control group, and a longitudinal design. The
      current project is focused on documenting the subjective, behavioral, physiological and
      neural effects of floating in healthy and anxious populations. The subjective effects of
      floating will be examined using self-report measures and the experience sampling method. The
      behavioral effects of floating will be examined using measures of interoceptive awareness and
      distress tolerance. The physiological effects of floating will be examined using waterproof
      and wireless tracking of blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, and movement, in addition
      to collecting measures of cortisol and magnesium. A portable electroencephalography (EEG)
      system will be used to measure sleep during the nights before and after a float experience.
      The neural effects of floating will be examined using waterproof and wireless EEG collected
      during the float experience, as well as using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
      collected before and immediately after floating. Using a longitudinal within-subject design,
      the researchers have a unique opportunity to assess not only functional brain changes, but
      also structural brain changes induced by repeated exposures to floating. An active control
      condition aims to control for the effects of simple relaxation by collecting all of the same
      measures while participants lay supine in a zero-gravity chair situated in a quiet, dimly lit
      room. This program of research constitutes the first systematic investigation of floating on
      the body and the brain, and the findings have the potential to illuminate the physiological
      and neural correlates of the deep relaxation induced by the floating experience.
    

Intervention name(s): Floating
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Floating in either a pool saturated with Epsom salt or in a zero-gravity chair
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: floating; interoception