Brain and Mindfulness

NCT03117478 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 69HCL16_0678
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 169
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The main aim of this project is to explore the neuro-anatomical and -physiological correlates of meditation on attention and emotion-regulation. By investigating this, our scientific goal is to more generally identify the mechanisms and biomarkers of health and mental well-being. Therefore, the investigators use non-invasive imaging like Magneto-EncephaloGraphy (MEG), ElectroEncephaloGraphy (EEG), functional and anatomic Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI; including Diffusion tensor - DTI). These brain measures will then be linked to behavioral measurements. Experimental methods (i.e., simple computer tasks) will be used to measure attention, conscious perception and regulation of pain and emotion.

Conditions

Healthy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Anatomical MRI scan

  Brain structure

  Day 1

• Functional MRI scan

  Brain activation: Haemodynamic response - BOLD signal.

  Day1

• EEG

  Event-related potential fields : amplitude in fT and latency in ms. Oscillations : power spectral density and time-frequency oscillations in fT\^2/Hz

  Day 1

Secondary Outcomes (12)

• Behavioral measure : Accuracy of the performed task actions

  Day 1

• Psychophysics: Pain threshold

  Day 1

• Psychophysiology : Respiration

  Day 1

• Subjective experience of the participant

  Day 1

• Studies biomarkers of inflammation

  Day 1

Study Arms (4)

1. Participants without meditation experience

OTHER

Novices. Note that there is no meditation intervention in this study but that the two groups differ in their lifetime meditation experience.

Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI); Other: Meditation

2. Participant with a significant meditation experience

OTHER

Experts : \> 5000 hours of practice during their life. Note that there is no meditation intervention in this study but that the two groups differ in their lifetime meditation experience.

Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI); Other: Meditation

3. Participants without meditation experience

OTHER

Novices. There is no meditation intervention during the study but the investigators investigate the effects of meditation by comparing 2 groups who differ in their life time meditation experience (i.e., novices vs. experts).

Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI)

4. Participant with a significant meditation experience

OTHER

Experts : \> 5000 hours of practice during their life. There is no meditation intervention during the study but the investigators investigate the effects of meditation by comparing 2 groups who differ in their life time meditation experience (i.e., novices vs. experts).

Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI)

Interventions

Magneto-encephalography (MEG) OTHER

Magneto-encephalography

1. Participants without meditation experience; 2. Participant with a significant meditation experience; 3. Participants without meditation experience; 4. Participant with a significant meditation experience

Electro-encephalography (EEG) OTHER

Electro-encephalography

1. Participants without meditation experience; 2. Participant with a significant meditation experience; 3. Participants without meditation experience; 4. Participant with a significant meditation experience

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) OTHER

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

1. Participants without meditation experience; 2. Participant with a significant meditation experience; 3. Participants without meditation experience; 4. Participant with a significant meditation experience

Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI) OTHER

Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging

1. Participants without meditation experience; 2. Participant with a significant meditation experience; 3. Participants without meditation experience; 4. Participant with a significant meditation experience

Meditation OTHER

Meditation

1. Participants without meditation experience; 2. Participant with a significant meditation experience

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 25 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age : 25-70
• Being affiliated to a social security system.
• Motivated to participate in this study.

You may not qualify if:

• Medication acting on the central nervous system
• Opioids, Antidepressive Agents.
• Actual or previous neurological or psychiatric illnesses
• Chronic pain or any other medical condition which is related to pain or an increased sensitivity to pain.
• Not having a personal or family history of epilepsy
• Alcohol or drugs consumption 2 days before or during the study.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hospices Civils de Lyon: lead

Study Sites (1)

Le Vinatier

Bron, 69500, France

Location

Related Publications (10)

• Zorn J, Abdoun O, Sonie S, Lutz A. Cognitive Defusion Is a Core Cognitive Mechanism for the Sensory-Affective Uncoupling of Pain During Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosom Med. 2021 Jul-Aug 01;83(6):566-578. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000938.

  PMID: 33790200 BACKGROUND

• Zorn J, Abdoun O, Bouet R, Lutz A. Mindfulness meditation is related to sensory-affective uncoupling of pain in trained novice and expert practitioners. Eur J Pain. 2020 Aug;24(7):1301-1313. doi: 10.1002/ejp.1576. Epub 2020 May 7.

  PMID: 32311185 BACKGROUND

• Poublan-Couzardot A, Lecaignard F, Fucci E, Davidson RJ, Mattout J, Lutz A, Abdoun O. Time-resolved dynamic computational modeling of human EEG recordings reveals gradients of generative mechanisms for the MMN response. PLoS Comput Biol. 2023 Dec 13;19(12):e1010557. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010557. eCollection 2023 Dec.

  PMID: 38091350 BACKGROUND

• Poletti S, Abdoun O, Zorn J, Lutz A. Pain regulation during mindfulness meditation: Phenomenological fingerprints in novices and experts practitioners. Eur J Pain. 2021 Aug;25(7):1583-1602. doi: 10.1002/ejp.1774. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

  PMID: 33797842 BACKGROUND

• Katyal S, Abdoun O, Mounier H, Lutz A. Reduced processing of afforded actions while observing mental content as ongoing mental phenomena. Sci Rep. 2024 May 2;14(1):10130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-60934-6.

  PMID: 38698150 BACKGROUND

• Fucci E, Poublan-Couzardot A, Abdoun O, Lutz A. No effect of focused attention and open monitoring meditation on EEG auditory mismatch negativity in expert and novice practitioners. Int J Psychophysiol. 2022 Jun;176:62-72. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.03.010. Epub 2022 Mar 28.

  PMID: 35358612 BACKGROUND

• Fucci E, Abdoun O, Lutz A. Auditory perceptual learning is not affected by anticipatory anxiety in the healthy population except for highly anxious individuals: EEG evidence. Clin Neurophysiol. 2019 Jul;130(7):1135-1143. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.04.010. Epub 2019 Apr 27.

  PMID: 31085447 BACKGROUND

• Fucci E, Abdoun O, Baquedano C, Lutz A. Ready to help, no matter what you did: Responsibility attribution does not influence compassion in expert Buddhist practitioners. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2024 Apr;153(4):1093-1111. doi: 10.1037/xge0001542. Epub 2024 Feb 22.

  PMID: 38386366 BACKGROUND

• Czajko S, Zorn J, Daumail L, Chetelat G, Margulies DS, Lutz A. Exploring the Embodied Mind: Functional Connectome Fingerprinting of Meditation Expertise. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2024 Aug 9;4(6):100372. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100372. eCollection 2024 Nov.

  PMID: 39309211 BACKGROUND

• Abdoun O, Zorn J, Poletti S, Fucci E, Lutz A. Training novice practitioners to reliably report their meditation experience using shared phenomenological dimensions. Conscious Cogn. 2019 Feb;68:57-72. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.01.004. Epub 2019 Jan 15.

  PMID: 30658238 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Meditation

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Mind-Body Therapies; Complementary Therapies; Therapeutics; Spiritual Therapies; Relaxation Therapy; Behavior Therapy; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Officials

• Sandrine SONIE, MD

  Le Vinatier

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 8, 2017
• First Posted: April 18, 2017
• Study Start: March 19, 2016
• Primary Completion: October 16, 2019
• Study Completion: October 16, 2019
• Last Updated: September 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

FR (1)