The purpose of the study is to look at the impact of a metta meditation training on prosocial behavior and socio-affective brain responses. The training involves an 8-week, online administration of guided metta meditation practices aimed at generating feelings of kindness and compassion for other people. The study examines how participants respond to thinking about familiar others and strangers using behavioral and brain-imaging measures. This study will be important for understanding how people develop the capacity to be prosocial towards other individuals, which is a key component of adaptive social behavior.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
67
Administered 5 days per week for 8 weeks.
Georgetown University
Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States
Social Discounting
During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, participants will complete a social discounting task. Participants will choose whether to forgo various amounts of money to give to another person. Behavioral and brain responses will be analyzed to assess social discounting in each participant.
Time frame: 8 weeks
Affective Brain Responses to Familiar and Unfamiliar Others
During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, participants will view images of people who they know and people who they do not know. Affective brain response patterns will be analyzed to assess responding in each participant.
Time frame: 8 weeks
State Affect Rating
Participants will complete the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) questionnaire. This self-report scale includes 20 items that are rated on a 5-point scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Positive and negative self-reported affect will be quantified for each participant.
Time frame: 8 weeks
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