Heart Rate and Breathing Effects on Attention and Memory

NCT05602220 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: UP-21-00357
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 91
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

In the current study, we will examine how daily paced breathing affects plasma amyloid beta levels and the rate of learning in older adults. Healthy adults aged 50-70 who meet all eligibility criteria will be invited to this study. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the two conditions: 1) Daily memory and attention training followed by a paced breathing protocol designed to increase relaxation or 2) Daily memory and attention training followed by a paced breathing protocol to increase alertness. Participants will be asked to complete pre and post intervention cognitive testing online, engage in 10 weeks of daily brain training (starting Week 2) and 9 weeks of paced breathing (starting Week 3) at home. They will also be asked to come in for lab visits on Weeks 2, 7 and 12 to provide blood and urine samples to assess amyloid beta levels and to complete magnetic resonance imaging scans to assess perivascular space volume.

Conditions

Aging; Alzheimer Disease; Age-related Cognitive Decline

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Plasma Amyloid Beta (Aβ) Levels

  We computed an aggregate Z-score based on plasma Aβ40 and Aβ42 levels (pg/mL). A Z-score of 0 represents the sample mean. Higher values indicate a greater level of plasma Aβ, which in cognitively normal individuals has been found to be associated with a higher risk of converting to Alzheimer's disease (Song et al., 2011). This score was compared across three time points: Week 2 (pre-intervention), Week 7 (mid-intervention), and Week 12 (post-intervention). We conducted a time (Week 2, 7, 12) × condition ANOVA to test for a time × condition interaction in plasma Aβ levels, assessing group differences in change over time.

  Measured from blood draws at lab visits on Weeks 2, 7, and 12

• Change in Plasma Ab42/40 Ratio

  The plasma Aβ42/40 ratio was calculated by dividing the plasma Aβ42 concentration (pg/mL) by the plasma Aβ40 concentration (pg/mL) at each time point. We conducted a time (Week 2, 7, 12) × condition ANOVA to test for an interaction effect, using plasma Aβ42/40 ratio scores as the dependent variable to assess group differences over time. A higher Aβ42/40 ratio indicates a better outcome, reflecting greater brain clearance of Aβ.

  Measured from blood draws at lab visits on Weeks 2, 7, and 12

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Change in Brain Perivascular Space Volume

  Measured from magnetic resonance imaging completed at lab visits on Weeks 2, 7, and 12

• Change in Hippocampal Volume

  Measured from magnetic resonance imaging completed at lab visits on Weeks 2, 7, and 12

• Brain Training Performance on 12 Lumosity Games

  Measured at pre-intervention during week 2 and at the end of the intervention during week 12

Other Outcomes (2)

• Change in Plasma pTau-181/Tau Ratio

  Measured from blood draws at lab visits on Weeks 2, 7, and 12

• Change in Urine Ab42

  Measured from urine samples at lab visits on Weeks 2, 7, and 12

Study Arms (2)

Brain training and paced breathing to stimulate alertness

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Brain training; Behavioral: Paced breathing

Brain training and paced breathing to relax

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Brain training; Behavioral: Paced breathing

Interventions

Brain training BEHAVIORAL

Participants will play a few brain training games using an online interface each day. These games train attention, memory and other cognitive functions.

Brain training and paced breathing to relax; Brain training and paced breathing to stimulate alertness

Paced breathing BEHAVIORAL

After completing brain training, they will then immediately do one 15-minute session of paced breathing, followed by a second 15-min session of paced breathing later in the day. During the paced breathing sessions, participants will clip a pulse monitor to their ear lobe and try to inhale and exhale in synchrony with a ball that moves up and down on the screen. They will receive heart rate biofeedback regarding whether they are achieving their relaxation/alertness goal.

Brain training and paced breathing to relax; Brain training and paced breathing to stimulate alertness

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 50 Years - 70 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• speak English fluently
• between the age of 50-70
• healthy adult who weighs at least 110 pounds
• non-pregnant and non-menstruating (for at least the past year)
• normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing
• have a home computer with a physical keyboard and have access to reliable internet
• have an email account that you check regularly
• have a phone that receives text messages
• willing to provide a blood sample and a urine sample at three lab visits
• willing to devote up to 60 minutes daily to the study for 12 weeks (in addition to lab visits)

You may not qualify if:

• have a disorder that would impede performing the breathing intervention (e.g., abnormal cardiac rhythm, heart disease including coronary artery disease, angina, and arrhythmia, cognitive impairment, dyspnea)
• regularly practicing any relaxation, biofeedback, or breathing technique (e.g., meditation) for more than an hour a week
• regularly played Lumosity games in the past 6 months
• participated in heart rate biofeedback studies in the USC Emotion \& Cognition Lab
• have any conditions listed below that are not safe for 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)
• Cardiac pacemaker
• Implanted cardiac defibrillator
• Aneurysm clip or brain clip
• Carotid artery vascular clamp
• Neurostimulator
• Insulin or infusion pump
• Spinal fusion stimulator

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southern California: lead
• University of California, Irvine: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California, 90089, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Nashiro K, Yoo HJ, Cho C, Kim AJ, Nasseri P, Min J, Dahl MJ, Mercer N, Choupan J, Choi P, Lee HRJ, Choi D, Alemu K, Herrera AY, Ng NF, Thayer JF, Mather M. Heart rate and breathing effects on attention and memory (HeartBEAM): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial in older adults. Trials. 2024 Mar 15;25(1):190. doi: 10.1186/s13063-024-07943-y.

  PMID: 38491546 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Alzheimer Disease

Interventions

Cognitive Training

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Dementia; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Tauopathies; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Mental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurological Rehabilitation; Rehabilitation; Aftercare; Continuity of Patient Care; Patient Care; Therapeutics; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Director of Clinical Trials
• Organization: University of Southern California

nashiro@usc.edu

213-740-9543

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 6, 2022
• First Posted: November 2, 2022
• Study Start: January 11, 2023
• Primary Completion: November 6, 2023
• Study Completion: November 13, 2023
• Last Updated: January 9, 2026
• Results First Posted: January 9, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Locations

US (1)