The Effects of Mindfulness Training on Pain Regulation, Negative Affect, Attention, and Social Stress
Condition: Focus on Pain Regulation Mechanisms; Social Stress Mechanisms; Basic Affective Mechanisms; Attention Mechanisms; Brain Mechanisms; Immune Mechanisms; Endocrine Mechanisms
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The project's objective is to explore the impact of Mindfulness-Based-Stress-Reduction (MBSR)
      on pain regulation, social stress, basic affective and attention functions, and on the brain,
      immune, and endocrine mechanisms that subserve these processes. Specifically, the
      investigators hypothesize that participants undergoing MBSR training will show decreased
      emotional distress on self-report measures, increased sustained attention on a behavioral
      task, decreased stress levels on a social stress test, decreased general psychosocial stress
      as indexed by diurnal salivary cortisol profile, changes in inflammatory response, modulation
      of cellular aging, and different neural patterns in response to thermal pain and aversive
      visual stimuli as indexed by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI).

      To test these hypotheses, the study will recruit 50 participants through the UW-Madison
      Integrative Medicine Program. All participants will be randomly assigned either to an 8-week
      MBSR program or to an 8-week training program in health-enhancement. At the conclusion of the
      study, participants will be invited to participate to the second class should they be
      interested. Participants will complete self-report questionnaires, behavioral tasks, fMRI
      scanning, cortisol sampling, and blood sampling before training begins, after the first
      program ends, and again four months after the first program ends and prior to the second
      program.

      If hypotheses are supported, the study may benefit participants by reducing their
      psychological distress, increasing their well-being, and helping them better manage pain and
      aversive stimuli. There are no other direct benefits to participants. Potential risks
      associated with fMRI include ferromagnetic collision, neurostimulation effects, and
      psychological discomfort. Potential risks to subjects include slight potential discomfort in
      providing saliva samples, discomfort of painful thermal stimulation, stress associated with
      the Trier Social Stress Test, some psychological discomfort from viewing disturbing
      photographs as part of the compassion fMRI study, and breach of confidentiality.

      Consent for the present study will entail both written and verbal descriptions of the
      protocol. Subjects will be informed that their participation is completely voluntary, and
      that they can withdraw at any time.
    


Intervention name(s): Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR); Health Enhancement Program (HEP)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): 8 week class in stress reduction through instruction in mindfulness related techniques.; 8-week intervention designed to be structurally equivalent to MBSR but without a mindfulness component. Consists of nutrition, functional movement, physical activity, and music therapy.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: pain regulation; social stress; affect; attention; brain; immune; endocrine