Dissecting De-automatization

Dissecting De-automatization: The Effect of Mindfulness Training on Unconscious Habit Formation

The proposed study will assess the effects of mindfulness meditation training on an eye blink conditioning (EBC) task in a sample of novice meditators. This methodology will allow investigation of whether mindfulness interrupts classical conditioning through the process of de-automatization. Implicit learning rates, as reflective of unconscious habit formation and measured by the frequency of conditioned responses during the EBC, will be a main outcome of interest. The proposed study will also assess the effects of mindfulness meditation training on an emotion regulation (ER) task, with a specific focus on reappraisal of negative images and savoring of positive images.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mindfulness
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation Training; Behavioral: Active Listening

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 53
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Utah
    • Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, 84112
      • University of Utah

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age 18-60,
2. willingness to participate in study interventions and assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Prior experience with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, or Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention, or a history of meditation practice,
2. Learning disability, significant memory problems or significant attentional disruptions as determined by self-report,
3. History of head injury resulting in loss of consciousness.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Factorial Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Mindfulness; Participants randomly assigned to the mindfulness meditation condition will meet for five, 15-minute sessions, in which they will receive training in basic mindfulness skills (Wallace, 2006).	Behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation Training; A researcher will guide participants through 5 mindfulness meditations, each lasting 11 minutes in length.
Active Comparator: Active Listening; Participants randomly assigned to the active listening condition will meet for five, 15-minute sessions, in which they will listen to Gilbert White's The Natural History of Selborne.	Behavioral: Active Listening; A researcher will read participants 5 selections from The Natural History of Selborne, each lasting 11 minutes in length.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Conditioned Eyeblink Frequency	Between group differences in the frequency of conditioned eyeblinks over the six reinforcement blocks.	9 minutes

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Positive Emotion Regulation Task	Between group differences in affective change occasioned by savoring positive images will be measured by comparing increases in self-reported positive affect (5-point Likert scale) from pre- to post- positive image, viewing block.	5 minutes
Negative Emotion Regulation Task	Between group differences in affective change occasioned by positively reappraising negative images will be measured by comparing increases in self-reported negative affect (5-point Likert scale) from pre- to post- negative image, viewing block.	5 minutes
Self-Transcendence (NADA-State)	Between group differences in the degree to which mindfulness training alters participants' sense of self as measured by the nondaul awareness dimension assessment's (NADA) state form.	2 minutes

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Utah

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 15, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 1, 2018
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 28, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): March 7, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 1, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 28, 2018
• Last Verified: September 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB_00088540

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No