NCT05026827

Iyengar Yoga for Prolonged Grief Disorder

Iyengar Yoga as a Probe of Prolonged Grief Disorder Neurobiology

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 68 (actual)
• Sponsor: Medical College of Wisconsin · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Experiencing the death of a loved one is inevitable for older adults. Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, over 2.5 million people died annually in the United States, including 52,000 in Wisconsin alone, and COVID-19 has added to this toll. Each person who dies leaves an average of five grieving people behind. Most grieving older adults are resilient and recover their pre-loss functioning within one year. However, in about 10%, acute grief becomes protracted and debilitating, leading to the development of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), a clinically diagnosable mental health condition. PGD in older adults increases the risk for poorer medical, mental health, and cognitive outcomes; lower quality of life; disability; premature mortality; and suicide. Despite the magnitude of this problem, the neurobiology of PGD in older adults is poorly understood. By using Iyengar Yoga (IY) as a probe for PGD neurobiology, this pilot project aims to address this critical gap.

Detailed description

Our goal is to conduct a pilot study to examine in PGD the modulating effects of 10-week IY on circulating endocannabinoid and emotion processing brain circuit, and the associations between biological changes and clinical response.

Conditions

• Prolonged Grief Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Iyengar Yoga	Participation in Iyengar Yoga classes
OTHER	Socialization Control	Participation in socialization control group sessions

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-08-30
• Primary completion: 2026-08-01
• Completion: 2026-12-01
• First posted: 2021-08-30
• Last updated: 2026-01-12

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States