NCT07190326

Massage: Neuroimaging and Correlates of Response - 6-week Study

Neuroimaging and Correlates of Response

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 46 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Utah · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 64 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study will help find out if massage and touch therapies change brain activity and reduce the symptoms of anxiety. Massage therapy has well known health benefits. This study will help to learn if these therapies reduce the symptoms of anxiety by changing brain activity. Participation in the study will last about 8 weeks. This is a randomized research study. "Randomized" means that participants will be assigned to a study group by chance, like flipping a coin. Participants will be randomized into one of two study groups, and will have an equal chance of being placed in one of the groups: - Swedish massage therapy twice per week for 6 weeks - Light touch therapy twice per week for 6 weeks At each study, the study staff ask about life stressors, medical health, medicine use, and illicit substance use over the past week. The study uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as well as functional MRI (fMRI) to look at the structure and activation of the brain. Participants will undergo two brain scanning sessions, one before the first intervention and one immediately after the last Swedish massage or light touch therapy. The scans will last approximately 45 minutes. During the brain scanning sessions, information on heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and breathing will also be collected.

Detailed description

This is a two-arm, randomized, single masked study investigating the effects of twice per week for 6 weeks Swedish massage therapy (SMT) vs. a light touch (LT) control on brain activity, assessments, and autonomic function in non-psychiatric control subjects. The Primary Objective is to identify brain networks activated by SMT vs. LT using resting state fMRI and Functional Connectivity during the neutral/fearful/angry faces task in normal control subjects. The secondary objective is to correlate changes in autonomic measures with resting state fMRI.

Conditions

• Healthy Control

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Swedish Massage Therapy	The therapist uses non-aromatic cream to facilitate making long strokes over the body. Swedish massage is done with the subject covered by a sheet, a technique called "draping." One part of the body is uncovered, massaged, and then re-draped before moving to another part. The primary techniques used in the research protocol therapy are effleurage, petrissage, kneading, tapotement and thumb friction. These techniques are performed in a very precise, carefully elaborated manner. The session starts with the subject fully draped in a prone position on the massage table and after approximately 22 minutes the subject is instructed to turn to the supine position. Finally, the therapist moves to the head area of the subject, begins working on the shoulders, neck and head using effleurage and thumb friction, and concludes by using light tapotement on the head. The total time for the entire massage is 45 minutes. Subjects randomized to SMT will undergo two sessions per week for 6-weeks.
OTHER	Light Touch Control	The Light Touch Control protocol entails the same duration and sequence of procedures as the massage protocol, except that the therapist employs only light-touch hand placement on the subject's body. This condition isolates the effect of the mechanical intervention of SMT. Subjects randomized to LT will undergo two sessions per week for 6-weeks.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-07-01
• Primary completion: 2026-04-01
• Completion: 2026-06-01
• First posted: 2025-09-24
• Last updated: 2025-09-24

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States