NCT03354585

Mindfulness and Chronic Low Back Pain

Brain Mechanisms Supporting Mindfulness-based Chronic Pain Relief

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of California, San Diego · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to see if mindfulness, a form of mental training, or listening to a book alters brain activation in response to raising your leg that may produce the feeling of pain. A technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows scientists to determine which parts of the brain are active during a particular task. This study will provide new information about how mindfulness affects the brain.

Detailed description

To determine if mindfulness meditation-induced reductions in chronic low back pain (cLBP) patients will be associated with greater anterior insula (aINS), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), and/or thalamic deactivation when compared to rest, the sham-mindfulness meditation and the book-listening control groups. One-hundred and twenty individuals will be randomized to a mindfulness meditation (n=40), non-mindfulness meditation (n=40) and book-listening-control (n=40). Each participants will be administered noxious heat and the chronic low back pain evoking, straight leg raise test during fMRI.

Conditions

• Chronic Low Back Pain

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	mindfulness training	A well-validated brief mindfulness-based mental training regimen \[20 min/session(s)\] will be used to teach patients to independently practice mindfulness. Participants will be asked to close their eyes acknowledge distracting thoughts and feelings.
BEHAVIORAL	non-mindfulness training	A well-validated brief meditation-based mental training regimen \[20 min/session(s)\] will be used to teach patients to independently practice deep breathing. Participants will be asked to close their eyes acknowledge distracting thoughts and feelings.
BEHAVIORAL	book-listening	Study volunteers will listen to The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne throughout the intervention.

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-01-02
• Primary completion: 2024-02-05
• Completion: 2024-02-05
• First posted: 2017-11-28
• Last updated: 2024-04-29

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States