Clinical trial NCT01975415: Digital Medicine in Meditation
Official title: Digital Medicine in Meditation
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Biometric Changes During Meditation
Keywords: Meditation
Sensors
Digital medicine
Lead sponsor: Scripps Translational Science Institute
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: The Chopra Foundation
First posted: 2013-11-03
Enrollment: 40
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Participants in this study will be a subset of 40 individuals from a total of \~200 who self-selected to participate in a week-long "Seduction of Spirit" retreat at The Chopra Center in the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, CA. The 40 anticipated participants will be made up of 2 cohorts: experienced meditators and novice meditators.

Brief summary: This study will investigate the acute response to meditation during a week-long meditation retreat at the Chopra Center as measured by the continuous, simultaneous monitoring of numerous biometric parameters in selected cohorts of experienced and novice meditators during periods of meditation and specific breathing techniques. Comparisons between cohorts as well as over time will allow for the identification of meditation and/or breathing-related changes.

Detailed description: The biometric responses to meditation and breathing techniques will be compared between novice and experienced meditators, as well as initial versus final biometric responses in all participants stratified by cohort. Investigators hypothesize that novice meditators will experience a measurable change in response to mediation over the week-long retreat, whereas experienced meditators will demonstrate a more robust response than novice meditators on the first day of the retreat with less change over the retreat.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Adult over age 18 who are already registered to participate in the week-long "Seduction of the Soul" retreat.
* Capable of providing informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

* Chronic requirement for daily use of chronotropically active medications including beta-blockers, non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers, clonidine or beta-agonist inhalers.
* Implantable pacemaker or cardioverter-defibrillator.
* Known allergy to adhesives.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Blood Pressure
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: ECG
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: Respiration rate
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: Heart Rate
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: Oxygen saturation (SpO2)
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: Skin temperature
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: Heart rate variability
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: EEG
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
measure: Stress level
timeFrame: Participants will be measured at Day 1 and Day 5 of retreat
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Carlsbad
country: United States
facility: The Chopra Center
state: California
Study officials:
References: