Heartrate and Breathing Effects on Attention and Memory

Heartrate and Breathing Effects on Attention and Memory Main Study

Some types of meditation lead heart rate to become more steady as breathing quiets whereas others lead to large heart rate swings up and down (oscillations) as breathing becomes deeper and slower. The current study is designed to investigate how daily practice of heart rate biofeedback during breathing in a pattern that either increases or decreases heart rate oscillation affect attention and memory and blood biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Alzheimer Disease; Age-related Cognitive Decline
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Daily practice

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 240
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Emotion & Cognition Lab Coordinator; Phone Number: 213-740-9543; Email: matherlab@usc.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• self identify as Black/African-American or White/European-American
• aged 50-70
• normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing
• speak English fluently
• have an email account checked regularly
• have a phone that receives text messages
• willing to provide a blood sample and a urine sample at two lab visits
• willing to devote up to 60 minutes daily to the study for 10 weeks (in addition to lab visits)

Exclusion Criteria:

• cardiac pacemaker
• frequent cardiac arrhythmias
• cognitive impairment
• currently practice any meditation, biofeedback or breathing technique for more than an hour per week
• have regularly played Lumosity games in the past six months
• participated in a previous heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback study
• have any conditions listed below that are not safe for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) Claustrophobia Have worked as a machinist, metal worker, or in any profession or hobby grinding metal Have had an injury to the eye involving a metallic object (e.g., metallic slivers, shavings, or foreign body) Implanted cardiac defibrillator Aneurysm clip or brain clip Carotid artery vascular clamp Neurostimulator Insulin or infusion pump Spinal fusion stimulator Cochlear, otologic, ear tubes or ear implant Prosthesis (eye/orbital, penile, etc.) Implant held in place by a magnet Heart valve prosthesis Electrodes (on body, head or brain) Intravascular stents, filters Shunt (spinal or intraventricular) Vascular access port or catheters Intrauterine device (IUD) Transdermal delivery system or other types of foil patches (e.g., Nitro, Nicotine, Birth control, etc.) that cannot be removed for MRI Shrapnel, buckshot, or bullets in body Tattooed eyeliner or eyebrows Body piercing(s) with metal that cannot be removed for MRI Metal fragments (eye, head, ear, skin) Internal pacing wires Aortic clips Metal or wire mesh implants Wire sutures or surgical staples Harrington rods (spine) Bone/joint pin, screw, nail, wire, plate in body Wig or toupee that cannot be removed for MRI Hair implants that involve staples or metal Hearing aid(s) that cannot be removed for MRI Dentures or retainers that cannot be removed for MRI

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Increase Oscillation; Participants will breath at a slow "resonance" frequency and receive biofeedback to increase heart rate oscillation.	Behavioral: Daily practice; Participants will be asked to undergo daily practice to regulate (either increase or decrease) heart rate oscillation
Experimental: Decrease Oscillation; Participants' breathing will not be fixed to particular frequency and they will receive biofeedback to decrease heart rate oscillation.	Behavioral: Daily practice; Participants will be asked to undergo daily practice to regulate (either increase or decrease) heart rate oscillation

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in plasma amyloid-beta levels	Investigators will compute an aggregate value based on both plasma Ab40 and Ab42 levels. This score will be compared for Week 1 (pre-intervention) and Week 10 (post-intervention). Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction in plasma Ab levels (to assess group differences in change).	Week 1 and Week 10
Plasma amyloid-beta 42/40 ratio	Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction with plasma Ab42/40 ratio values as the dependent variable (to assess group differences in change).	Week 1 and Week 10

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Plasma pTau-181	Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction with pTau-181 values as the dependent variable (to assess group differences in change).	Week 1 and Week 10
Plasma pTau-217	Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction with pTau-217 values as the dependent variable (to assess group differences in change).	Week 1 and Week 10
Change in brain perivascular space volume	Investigators will test whether there are group differences in change in perivascular space volume	Week 1 and Week 10
Brain training performance on Lumosity games during the breathing intervention	Investigators will compute a general learning factor across performance on all games played daily during the intervention period (Weeks 2-10).	During intervention (daily during Weeks 2-10)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Southern California
• Collaborators: University of California, Irvine

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): July 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 6, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 9, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): May 13, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 13, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 9, 2024
• Last Verified: May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Dementia; Tauopathies; Cognition Disorders; Alzheimer Disease; Cognitive Dysfunction
• Other Study ID Numbers: UP-21-00357-main

Drug and device information, study documents

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