The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Brain Metabolism in the Limbic Regions Studied by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

NCT05710250 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: DR220244-MEMOREM2022-A02454-39
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Stress reduction methods based on mindfulness meditation have been experiencing significant growth in various fields of society over the past twenty years. In the case of students, scientific work has shown that mindfulness training has a positive effect on their mental health and possibly on their academic performance through improved attention and memory. The effect of metamemory ("knowing what you know and what you don't know"), which plays an important part in students memorization and academic success, has not yet been explored. Changes in brain structure have been noted by MRI in some regions after several weeks of mindfulness training, but very few studies have yet looked at changes in brain metabolism that can be observed by the spectrocopy technique. The investigators will conduct a prospective randomized study with overall 30 female speech therapists student that will be enrolled and assigned randomly to two groups, in a 1:1 ratio : one groupe that will benefit from mindfulness training and the other group that will benefit from another method of stress reduction based on muscular relaxation. The programs will extend over 6 weeks with session of 2h30 per week in groups having personnal daily exercices (30-40' per day). During the 3 weeks leading up to and the 2 weeks following the program, students will take tests exploring memory and metamemory, complete mental health questionnaires, and have a magnetic resonance imaging with spectroscopic analysis.

Conditions

Behavior

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change from Baseline in Glumatate concentrations (mM) at 8 Weeks

  Glumatate concentrations (mM) are measured by magnetic resonance spectrocopy in left hippocampal formation

  baseline and 8 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (14)

• Change in left hippocampal formation volumes (mm^3) measured on MRI 3D T1w sequence

  baseline and 8 weeks

• Change in right amygdala volumes (mm^3) measured on MRI 3D T1w sequence

  baseline and 8 weeks

• Change in posterior cingulate volumes (mm^3) measured on MRI 3D T1w sequence

  baseline and 8 weeks

• Chang in overall brain volume measured on MRI 3D T1w sequence

  baseline and 8 weeks

• Change in score the Feeling of knowing task (FOK task)

  baseline and 8 weks

Study Arms (2)

Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) program

EXPERIMENTAL

15 students will follow a 6-week MBSR program with 2h30 sessions per week in group and daily exercises lasting 30-40 minutes per day.

Behavioral: 6-week MBSR program

Muscular relaxation program

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

15 students will follow a 6-week muscular relaxation program with 2h30 group sessions per week in group and daily exercises lasting 30-40 minutes per day.

Behavioral: 6-week muscular relaxation program

Interventions

6-week MBSR program BEHAVIORAL

Participants will follow a 6-week program of mindfulness meditation. MBSR teaches mindfulness meditation and mindful yoga exercises to develop non-judgmental awareness of moment-to-moment experience. The intervention duration is 6 weeks, with weekly two and half hours sessions. It will be delivered according to the fundamental concepts and specific techniques provided in the MBSR manualized protocol by Kabat-Zinn. The program also includes 30-min daily homework exercises. MBSR teaches four main mindfulness practices: (1) body scan, a process of moving attention through the body; (2) mindful movement, consisting of gentle yoga stretches to develop awareness of body in movement; (3) sitting meditation; and (4) walking meditation. Inquiry and didactic teaching is also a part of MBSR and allows for some detailed exploration of participants' experiences.

Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) program

6-week muscular relaxation program BEHAVIORAL

Control group : This group will follow a 6-week program of progressive muscle relaxation training in order to learn achieving a deep relaxation of the body through voluntary tensing and relaxing muscles. It proceeds by the individual sequentially tensing and then releasing specific groups of muscles throughout the body, and noticing how tension feels relative to relaxation. The accomplishment of physical relaxation promotes mental calmness in a parallel manner. This program is based on the work of Bernstein and Borkovec and Jacobson, and will be structured in 6-week group with weekly two and half hours sessions and out-of-session assignments for at-home practice (30-min daily).

Muscular relaxation program

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Female
• Right-handed
• ≥ 18 years old
• Affiliated to a social security scheme
• Written consent signed by the participan

You may not qualify if:

• Inability to complete the entire study programme
• Previous participation in an MBSR or MBCT programme
• Current neurological pathology
• Current psychiatric pathology, score ≥ 3 on the PHQ-4 self-questionnaire
• Previous or ongoing psychological or psychiatric treatment
• Previous or current psychotropic treatment
• Usual contraindications to brain MRI (including claustrophobia, ocular metallic foreign body, pacemaker, neurostimulator, cochlear implants (or non-removable electronic medical equipment), old generation heart valves, vascular clips previously implanted on a cranial aneurysm).
• Pregnancy
• Under legal protection or deprived of liberty.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Tours: lead

Study Sites (1)

Clinical Investigation Center

Tours, France

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Behavior

Study Officials

• Jean Philippe COTTIER

  University hospital of Tours

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: INVESTIGATOR, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 12, 2023
• First Posted: February 2, 2023
• Study Start: January 30, 2023
• Primary Completion: April 18, 2023
• Study Completion: April 18, 2023
• Last Updated: February 13, 2026

Record last verified: 2023-11

Locations

FR (1)