Does Mindfulness Training Change the Processing of Social Threat?

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Training in mindfulness, the non-judgmental observation of experiences as they arise in the present moment, has been increasingly and successfully applied to the treatment of normative stress conditions and mental disorders. Yet, the neurological mechanisms that underlie the reported improvements are still largely unknown. This longitudinal study will investigate the influence of mindfulness training on a key underpinning of mental health, namely emotion regulation, and its associated brain activity. Healthy participants will be randomly assigned to either a validated eight week Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program or to a control condition. In a pre-post investigation, participants' subjective reactions to aversive emotional stimuli (affective facial expressions) will be assessed, as will the associated brain activation using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The investigators hypothesize that after the training the MBSR participants will rate the pictures as less aversive compared to control participants. Furthermore, the MBSR participants will show a patter of brain activation indicative of improved emotion regulation, relative to control participants. Finally, the effect of MBSR on the gray matter structure of the brain will be investigated.

Official Title
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Does Mindfulness Training Change the Processing of Social Threat?

Conditions
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Healthy, Stress

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: no previous significant meditation or yoga experience eligible for MRI scanning (no metallic implants, not pregnant, not claustrophobic) no significant previous meditation or yoga experience Exclusion Criteria: DSM-IV diagnosis for depression, manic episodes, GAD, social phobia, anorexia, bulimia, schizophrenia, ADHD, substance dependency/abuse, suicidality ineligible for MRI scanning (metallic implants, pregnant, claustrophobic)

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 22 Years
Maximum Age: 60 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: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Behavioral: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction|Behavioral intervention, mindfulness meditation in form of yoga, sitting meditation, body scan and mindfulness to routine activities|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| BOLD signal on a 1.5T MRI scanner |  | the second time-point will take place eight weeks after the first data collection | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Healthy but stressed individuals