Effect of Mindfulness on EEG Brain Activity for Cognitive and Psychological Well-being in the Elderly
Condition: Healthy Aging
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      As the worldwide population of older adults rapidly increases over the coming years,
      effective strategies are needed to help this population to maintain and enhance physical,
      cognitive, and psychological well-being. Up to 10% of community dwelling older adults have
      depressive symptoms in Europe. Older adults are also subject to chronic illnesses which
      further exacerbate psychological symptoms. Furthermore, normal aging is associated with
      decline in cognitive functioning. Given the prevalence of mental health problems and
      cognitive difficulties in older adults, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) could be
      helpful in this population. Accordingly, a growing number of studies suggest that
      mindfulness-based interventions in the elderly have beneficial effects on psychological
      health (decrease in depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and increase in general mood and
      positive affect) and cognition (enhanced attention, executive functions).

      Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive technique which can be useful to study the
      neurophysiological correlates of mindfulness, and give neurobiological evidence of its
      beneficial effect in the elderly. Studies that examined spectral power outcomes between
      mindfulness and control state showed (i) increased alpha and theta power, as a marker of
      internally-directed attention processing and executive functioning and (ii) a shift towards
      left-sided anterior alpha activation, a pattern associated previously with positive emotions.

      The aim of this study is to evaluate short and long-term cognitive, psychological, and
      physiological effects of a standard 8-week MBI in healthy older adults. Cognitive and
      psychological evaluations, and resting state EEG will be administered within 2 weeks prior to
      and within 2 weeks following MBI, and repeated 24 weeks following MBI.
    

Detailed description: 
      Sixty older adults will be enrolled through local media announcements, meetings with elderly
      people organized in collaboration with local leisure and cultural associations, Alzheimer
      cafè, university of the third age, contacts with general practitioners. All participants will
      undergo cognitive and psychological evaluation and EEG. Moreover, current pharmacological
      therapies will be recorded and medical illness burden and comorbidity will be rated by the
      Cumulative Illness Rating Scale. Personality traits will be assessed by the Revised NEO
      Personality Inventory (NEO PI-R). The Subjective Cognitive Decline-Interview will be
      administered to evaluate the presence of subjective cognitive decline.

      The EEG will be recorded (250 Hz sampling frequency, without filtering) with 19 standard
      electrodes positioned according to the international standard 10-20 in baseline conditions.
      The electrodes will have an impedance of less than 5 kiloohm. Recordings of 5 minutes with
      open eyes and 5 minutes with eyes closed will be performed. Following the acquisition of the
      signal, spectral analysis will be applied.

      Mindfulness-based intervention is a standardized program which consists of 2-hour sessions
      that will be delivered at weekly intervals for 8 weeks in group setting. It is based on a
      comprehensive set of mindfulness practices derived from mindfulness-based stress reduction
      and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy programs, but specifically tailored to older adults.
      Participants will also be instructed to regularly engage in home mindfulness practice.

      Follow-up: all participants will repeat cognitive and psychological evaluation and EEG after
      2 weeks and after 24 weeks from the end of MBI.

      Data analysis: Descriptive statistics on cognitive, psychological, and EEG variables will be
      done by using parametric and non- parametric tests. The analyses of correlation between
      different clinical variables (assessment tools) and EEG brain features will be assessed by
      linear and generalized linear models. For longitudinal analyses we will adopt the generalized
      estimating equation models.
    

Intervention name(s): mindfulness-based intervention
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): 8 weekly group 2-hour sessions program adapted from mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy protocols. It was specifically tailored to older adults.
Intervention model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention