A 14 Week Study of Mindfulness Effects on Attentional Control in Older Adults

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Attentional control, or individuals' ability to choose which stimuli in the environment they attend to and which they ignore, declines with older age. Studies from the past two decades suggest that mindfulness meditative practice, such as a standardized mindfulness based stress reduction programs, may increase the efficiency of attention networks.To date, the majority of studies that have related mindfulness meditation practice to attentional control have been based on retrospective self-reported mindfulness or cross-sectional measurement in experienced meditators. More recent experimental studies using pre-post training designs have shown that meditation-naïve individuals can experience attentional improvement with mindfulness intervention. This study seeks to elucidate the time course and process by which such attentional improvements might be achieved. This research study investigates change in attentional control as participants progress through an 8-week mindfulness-inspired training (MIT) intervention, and has two specific aims: 1) to determine the time course of change in attentional components such as cognitive control and sustained attention as a consequence of MIT; attention will be measured weekly for 3 weeks before, 3 weeks after, and during 8 weeks of MIT. 2) To investigate the extent to which change in attentional performance is coupled/correlated with markers of emotion regulation, perceived mindfulness, and perceived mind wandering.

Detailed Description
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This will be a 14-week research study exploring week to week changes in attentional control and selected time-varying covariates. The study will involve comparison of two groups of adults aged 65 and older. Half the participants (n=20) will be randomized to received eight weeks of mindfulness-inspired training, while the other half (n=20) are not. Groups will be compared in the amount of change experienced in measures of attentional control. In addition, the association between changes in emotion regulation, perceived mindfulness, and perceived mind wandering with changes in attentional control will be examined, as well as whether this association differs between persons who did and did not receive mindfulness-inspired training. Measurement will include both paper-and-pencil and computer-administered tests.

Official Title
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A 14 Week Study of Mindfulness Effects on Attentional Control in Older Adults (The MACS Study: Mindfulness and Attentional Control in Seniors)

Conditions
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Cognitive Aging

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mindfulness-inspired treatment
* Other: Brain health


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Able to provide informed consent and perform cognitive and behavioral (mindfulness) interventions; Time and willingness to commit to the completion of this study; Ability to read at an 8th grade level based on scores on the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR) and reading text at 14 point font Exclusion Criteria: Lack of time and willingness to commit to the completion of this 14-week study Less than an 8th grade education Having been told by a healthcare provider that they (1) have had a stroke or mini-stroke in the past 12 months, (2) have ever had a traumatic brain injury, (3) have had schizophrenia or psychosis, (4) have problem with alcohol or substance abuse extreme difficulty reading ordinary print in a newspaper, or have stopped reading due to poor eyesight. extreme difficulty hearing, or being completely unable to hear, ordinary speech in low-noise conditions, even with hearing aid. Currently participating in cognitive training or brain training Having participated in any cognitive or brain training study within the last 6 months Currently participating in yoga or meditation based practices

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Basic Science
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: Brain Health<br>In weeks 1 and 14, participants receive: Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) Complete Activities of Daily Living Scale, The Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36), Attention measures (Attention Network Test (ANT); Continuous Performance Test (CPT); Auditory Dual Task (ADT); Mind wandering; Cued Stroop), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Starkstein Apathy Scale (AS). In weeks 4-11, participants receive the Brain Health control instruction. | Other: Brain health<br>* Eight weekly group brain health sessions lasting 90-120 minutes. The intervention is psychoeducational, and each week presents information from NIH regarding factors that may promote cognitive health in late life (e.g., sleep, physical activity, social engagement and leisure, cognitive training). Weekly sessions are supplemented with educational videos and group discussion. Weekly homework consists of readings about brain health.<br>* Other names: Active comparator;|
| Experimental: Mindfulness-inspired Treatment/Testing<br>Participants receive all of the same measures as the active comparator Brain Health condition in Weeks 1-14. In weeks 4-11, participants receive Mindfulness Inspired Treatment | Behavioral: Mindfulness-inspired treatment<br>* Eight weekly group MIT sessions lasting 90-120 minutes, along with a ½ day Mindfulness Retreat at the end of the training period, will include 1) psychoeducation, 2) formal exercises in the form of guided practice mentioned above, and 3) thoughtful exploration of ideas and questions. Formal MIT training will follow 21 guided pre-recorded meditative Moving Picture Experts Group Layer-3 Audio (MP3) tracks from the authors for use in class and at home, promoting both fidelity to the model and uniformity in intervention across training groups. MIT activities in the protocol include mindful breathing, eating, walking, and various other practices well documented in the literature to promote mindfulness. Participants will be asked to practice MIT on their own time, and to log this.<br>* Other names: Mindfulness-based stress reduction;|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Performance in Attention Network Task Conflict Monitoring Over 14 Weekly Measurements | The Attention Network Task is a computerized test that measures three different components of attention (alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring). Score is the computed as the difference between reaction time on correct trials in cued and uncued conditions. Scores have been normalized via Blom transformation and computed to T-score metric (mean=50, standard deviation = 10, minimum = 0, maximum = 100, higher = worse) | Performance in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Performance in Useful Field of View Over 14 Weekly Measurements | The useful field of view task is a computer-administered selective visual attention test that determines the minimum presentation time needed (between 16-500 msec) to correctly make two visual judgments: (a) is a centrally presented line drawing of a car or truck? and (b) where on the screen is a peripheral car located? Score is the fastest presentation time at which participants achieve at least 75% accuracy. Scores have been normalized via Blom transformation and computed to T-score metric (mean=50, standard deviation = 10, minimum = 0, maximum = 100, higher = worse) | Performance in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 | 
| Performance in Stroop Interference Over 14 Weekly Measurements | This task set is computerized presents participants with a word (red or green or blue) that may be presented in (a) congruent (same) color as the word itself (e.g., red word is printed in red), or (b) incongruent (word red printed in green or blue). Participants are cued to either select the word or the color, this varies from trial to trial. Score is the reaction time difference between correct responses to congruent and incongruent stimuli. Scores have been normalized via Blom transformation and computed to T-score metric (mean=50, standard deviation = 10, minimum = 0, maximum = 100, higher = worse) | Performance in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Cognitive Aging, Attention, Mindfulness