Effects of Mindfulness Training on Emotion Regulation and Social Cognition.

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin60 enrolled

Overview

The present study will investigate the effects of a mindfulness training on emotion regulation and social cognition, using several psychological, behavioral, psychophysiological and neuroimaging methods.

The aim of the present study is to evaluate the impact of a mindfulness intervention, particularly the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), on the capacities of emotion regulation and social cognition, in caring/helping professions which are vulnerable to stress. In the context of a longitudinal intervention study, a randomized controlled trial, the efficacy of the MBSR to increase the capacity for self-emotion regulation, empathic attunement, and compassion capacities will be measured. For doing this, several psychological, behavioral, psychophysiological and neuroimaging brain measurements will be used.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Stress, Psychological Emotional Stress Social Cognition Mindfulness

Interventions

Mindfulness groupBEHAVIORAL

8 week program

Reading groupBEHAVIORAL

8 week program

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 55 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Healthy volunteers: Men or women * Right-handed * Normal or corrected-to-normal visión * German as a first language * No history of neurological or psychiatric problems, or use of controlled medication that might interfere with emotion or attention. * No symptoms of claustrophobia * Written informed consent form to participate in the study and neuro-imaging experiment. Exclusion Criteria: * Chemical dependence, including nicotine and alcohol * Dementia or psychotic condition. * Depression or use of antidepressants * Pregnant or breast-feeding women * Prior MBSR class or regularly practicing mindfulness meditation (or yoga) for three or more months. * Non-controlled severe medical disease that might interfere with the performance of the study, such as neoplasias, cardiopathies, digestive pathologies, diabetes mellitus type I or type II * Neoplasias in the central nervous system * Tremor or dystonia in cephalic segment that hinders the performance of the MRI study (tremor equal to or higher than 3 in each corporal segment, according to the UPDRS scale) * Fulfillment of any criterion of contraindication for the MRI exam (for instance, metallic implants, claustrophobia, pregnancy, use of pacemaker; intracranial aneurism clip; cochlear implants). * Presence of odontological devices that might disturb the magnetic field or any sources of variation of the magnetic susceptibility * Any other conditions the investigator might deem problematic for the inclusion of the volunteer in a trial of this nature will also be considered.

Locations (1)

Berlin School of Mind & Brain, Humboldt Universität.

Berlin, State of Berlin, Germany

RECRUITING

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Activation changes in emotions related brain regions. Measured by significant changes in the BOLD (blood oxygenated level dependent) signal from task based functional magnetic resonance imaging.