NCT05215314

Brain and Meditation (BAM) Study

Neurobiological Mechanisms of Perceived Stress and Their Modification Through Behavioral Intervention

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 150 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Wisconsin, Madison · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 25 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study is a randomized controlled trial to test the impact of an app-based meditation program on perceived stress and behavioral correlates of stress with known neurobiological correlates. Healthy adult participants between the ages of 25-65 will be enrolled in the study for about 4-5 months.

Detailed description

Participants will be randomized into one of two groups: the intervention group or the waitlist control group. The intervention group will use a mobile health app for four weeks. Participants will complete pre-intervention, weekly, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up surveys and tasks. Primary Objective: Test for hypothesized group differences in perceived stress during participation in a 4-week meditation program and at 3-month follow-up. Secondary Objective: Within the meditation group, determine whether reductions in perceived stress are associated with changes in hippocampal-dependent behavior.

Conditions

• Stress
• Behavior

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	mHealth Meditation	Participants will receive access to the 4-week Healthy Minds Program (HMP) Foundations module. The HMP app is a meditation-based smartphone app designed to promote and protect psychological well-being through sustainable skills training. The program is grounded in constituents of psychological well-being identified in empirical literature. HMP provides core content, with instruction administered through a curriculum of guided practices. HMP is based on research on eudaimonic well-being (e.g., environmental mastery, purpose) and brain-based skills that underlie these qualities (e.g., regulation of attention, mental flexibility). The full HMP has guided audio practices that address 4 constituents of well-being: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose. At post-treatment, participants will be given access to additional HMP content to support their continued practice.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-04-13
• Primary completion: 2024-01-09
• Completion: 2024-01-09
• First posted: 2022-01-31
• Last updated: 2025-02-06
• Results posted: 2025-02-06

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States