The Neurophysiological Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Training on Emotional Regulation

February 17, 2020 updated by: National Taiwan University Hospital

Background Emotional distress is known to render vicious effects both mentally and physiologically to human beings. Emotional regulation is therefore an important capability to dilute the poisonous effect of emotional distress. The cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness thinking are two major strategies that have been empirically tested and supported to be effective emotional regulation approaches. Oftentimes, entry-level practitioners of mindfulness get confused easily between the cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness approach to emotional regulation in that they look similar in some of their practice forms. However, they are quite different from each other in terms of their fundamental concept. Although there are already many studies contribute to the mechanisms underlying these two approaches independently, very few studies have been proposed to directly investigate the fundamental differences of the underlying neural mechanisms between the two approaches. The current proposal therefore aims to compare the underlying neural mechanisms between the cognitive reappraisal and the mindfulness approaches within the context of emotional processing.

Objectives We propose herein a 2-year research project to address the following two hypotheses: (1) we hypothesize that the differences in terms of neural activation patterns between the mindfulness and cognitive reappraisal responses toward positive or negative stimuli in the emotion regulation task (ERT) will appear only after certain amount of MBSR training and (2) we hypothesize that the 10-week Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training will be accompanied by the increased resting-state functional connectivity between the salience network (involved in the process of meta-awareness) and both the dorsal attention network (i.e., attention to the outside world) and the default mode network (i.e., attention to the internal state).

Methods For the current proposal, we will use a pre-post-test plus longitudinal follow-up design research design. Based on the power analysis, we expect to recruit 45 adults (convenient sampling). We will collect neuropsychological, EEG and fMRI data from each participants at three time points with one time point before the MBSR training course (pre-test), one time point immediately after completing the MBSR training course (post-test) and one time point 8 months after completing the MBSR training course (8-month follow-up). For the neuropsychological measures, we will use the MAAS for evaluating trait mindfulness, DERS for evaluating emotional regulation and dysregulationand IRI for evaluating cognitive and emotional empathy level. For the fMRI measures, we will analyze the functional activation patterns between the cognitive reappraisal and the mindfulness process of emotion regulation. Furthermore, we will analyze the functional connectivity based on the resting-state fMRI data to investigate the change of pre- and post-MBSR training. For EEG measures, we will further analyze the different time-frequency patterns between these two types of emotional regulation.

Anticipated results We expect that the results will help unravel the functional changes of neuronal circuits associated with the transition from habitual cognitive reappraisal strategy to a mindfulness strategy, after an intensive mindfulness-based training. We hope that the overall outcomes from the current proposal will help enrich our knowledge that will enhances the translation of applying cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness based approaches in clinical psychiatry.

Keywords: cognitive reappraisal, mindfulness, emotion regulation, emotional distress

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Taipei, Taiwan
        • School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine National Taiwan University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

20 years to 60 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria: (1) aged 20~60 years and over; (2) no a-prior experience of any form of mindfulness/meditation training (3) being able to understand and speak Taiwanese or Mandarin; (4) no participation in any drug studies during this project period.

Exclusion Criteria: (1) aged over 60 or under 20; (2) have been trained with any form of mindfulness/meditation; (3) not speaking Taiwanese or Mandarin; (4) an inability to understand the survey questions due to apparent cognitive difficulties, serious deficits in vision or hearing; and (5) medical history of psychiatric disorders and neurological diseases (measured with BSRS-30) ;(6) have metal implants placed in the body;(7) have contraindications for undergoing an MRI scan such as having a heart pacemaker or an artificial heart valve, history of having a metal sliver in the eye or an aneurysm clip in their brain, having implanted surgical clips, having claustrophobia.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE
  • Allocation: NON_RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: MBSR group
participants who receiving 8-week MBSR between the pretest and posttest
A structural program focusing on the practice about attending to the current moment with non-judgmental attitude
NO_INTERVENTION: passive control group
participants who not undergoing any interventions for 8 weeks between the pretest and posttest

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
psychological trait change
Time Frame: within a month
measured by related questionnaire
within a month
subjective rating in valence/ arousal of emotional pictures
Time Frame: within a month
measured subjects' behavior emotion response in valence and arousal toward IAPS pictures
within a month
EEG-derived index, Late Positive Potential (LPP)
Time Frame: within a month
measured subjects' neural emotion process toward IAPS pictures
within a month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (ACTUAL)

July 14, 2018

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

January 10, 2020

Study Completion (ANTICIPATED)

December 31, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 16, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 17, 2020

First Posted (ACTUAL)

February 18, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

February 18, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 17, 2020

Last Verified

February 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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