A 14 Week Study of Mindfulness Effects on Attentional Control in Older Adults

Not Applicable

Completed

Interventions: Behavioral: Mindfulness-inspired treatment
Other: Brain health

Brief Summary: Attentional control, or individuals' ability to choose which stimuli in the environment they attend to and which they ignore, declines with older age. Studies from the past two decades suggest that mindfulness meditative practice, such as a standardized mindfulness based stress reduction programs, may increase the efficiency of attention networks.To date, the majority of studies that have related mindfulness meditation practice to attentional control have been based on retrospective self-reported mindfulness or cross-sectional measurement in experienced meditators. More recent experimental studies using pre-post training designs have shown that meditation-naïve individuals can experience attentional improvement with mindfulness intervention. This study seeks to elucidate the time course and process by which such attentional improvements might be achieved.

This research study investigates change in attentional control as participants progress through an 8-week mindfulness-inspired training (MIT) intervention, and has two specific aims: 1) to determine the time course of change in attentional components such as cognitive control and sustained attention as a consequence of MIT; attention will be measured weekly for 3 weeks before, 3 weeks after, and during 8 weeks of MIT. 2) To investigate the extent to which change in attentional performance is coupled/correlated with markers of emotion regulation, perceived mindfulness, and perceived mind wandering.

Detailed Description: This will be a 14-week research study exploring week to week changes in attentional control and selected time-varying covariates. The study will involve comparison of two groups of adults aged 65 and older. Half the participants (n=20) will be randomized to received eight weeks of mindfulness-inspired training, while the other half (n=20) are not.

Groups will be compared in the amount of change experienced in measures of attentional control. In addition, the association between changes in emotion regulation, perceived mindfulness, and perceived mind wandering with changes in attentional control will be examined, as well as whether this association differs between persons who did and did not receive mindfulness-inspired training. Measurement will include both paper-and-pencil and computer-administered tests.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Able to provide informed consent and perform cognitive and behavioral (mindfulness) interventions;
Time and willingness to commit to the completion of this study;
Ability to read at an 8th grade level based on scores on the Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR) and reading text at 14 point font

Exclusion Criteria

Lack of time and willingness to commit to the completion of this 14-week study
Less than an 8th grade education
Having been told by a healthcare provider that they (1) have had a stroke or mini-stroke in the past 12 months, (2) have ever had a traumatic brain injury, (3) have had schizophrenia or psychosis, (4) have problem with alcohol or substance abuse
extreme difficulty reading ordinary print in a newspaper, or have stopped reading due to poor eyesight.
extreme difficulty hearing, or being completely unable to hear, ordinary speech in low-noise conditions, even with hearing aid.
Currently participating in cognitive training or brain training
Having participated in any cognitive or brain training study within the last 6 months
Currently participating in yoga or meditation based practices

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Mindfulness-inspired Treatment/Testing	Mindfulness-inspired treatment	Participants receive all of the same measures as the active comparator "Brain Health" condition in Weeks 1-14. In weeks 4-11, participants receive Mindfulness Inspired Treatment
Brain Health	Brain health	In weeks 1 and 14, participants receive: Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Wechsler Test of Adult Reading (WTAR), Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ), Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) Complete Activities of Daily Living Scale, The Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36), Attention measures (Attention Network Test (ANT); Continuous Performance Test (CPT); Auditory Dual Task (ADT); Mind wandering; Cued Stroop), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and Starkstein Apathy Scale (AS). In weeks 4-11, participants receive the Brain Health control instruction.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Performance in Attention Network Task Conflict Monitoring Over 14 Weekly Measurements	Performance in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14	The Attention Network Task is a computerized test that measures three different components of attention (alerting, orienting, and conflict monitoring). Score is the computed as the difference between reaction time on correct trials in cued and uncued conditions. Scores have been normalized via Blom transformation and computed to T-score metric (mean=50, standard deviation = 10, minimum = 0, maximum = 100, higher = worse)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Performance in Stroop Interference Over 14 Weekly Measurements	Performance in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14	This task set is computerized presents participants with a word (red or green or blue) that may be presented in (a) congruent (same) color as the word itself (e.g., red word is printed in red), or (b) incongruent (word red printed in green or blue). Participants are cued to either select the word or the color, this varies from trial to trial. Score is the reaction time difference between correct responses to congruent and incongruent stimuli. Scores have been normalized via Blom transformation and computed to T-score metric (mean=50, standard deviation = 10, minimum = 0, maximum = 100, higher = worse)
Performance in Useful Field of View Over 14 Weekly Measurements	Performance in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14	The useful field of view task is a computer-administered selective visual attention test that determines the minimum presentation time needed (between 16-500 msec) to correctly make two visual judgments: (a) is a centrally presented line drawing of a car or truck? and (b) where on the screen is a peripheral car located? Score is the fastest presentation time at which participants achieve at least 75% accuracy. Scores have been normalized via Blom transformation and computed to T-score metric (mean=50, standard deviation = 10, minimum = 0, maximum = 100, higher = worse)

Locations (1): The Vital Laboratory at the The Village
🇺🇸
Gainesville, Florida, United States