Clincosm LogoSign in Get a demo

Metta Meditation Training on Prosocial Behavior

Sponsor
Georgetown University (Other)
Overall Status
Completed
CT.gov ID
NCT03894930
Collaborator
(none)
67
Enrollment
1
Location
2
Arms
31.6
Actual Duration (Months)
2.1
Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to look at the impact of a metta meditation training on prosocial behavior and socio-affective brain responses. The training involves an 8-week, online administration of guided metta meditation practices aimed at generating feelings of kindness and compassion for other people. The study examines how participants respond to thinking about familiar others and strangers using behavioral and brain-imaging measures. This study will be important for understanding how people develop the capacity to be prosocial towards other individuals, which is a key component of adaptive social behavior.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Behavioral: Metta meditation
 N/A

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Actual Enrollment :
67 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose:
Basic Science
Official Title:
Identifying Neural Correlates of Altruism
Actual Study Start Date :
Sep 25, 2018
Actual Primary Completion Date :
May 14, 2021
Actual Study Completion Date :
May 14, 2021

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Metta meditation

Eight-week, guided metta meditation training that is administered online

Behavioral: Metta meditation
Administered 5 days per week for 8 weeks.
Other Names:
  • Loving-kindness meditation

    		•
    No Intervention: Wait-list

    Eight-week wait-list control with no training

    Outcome Measures

    Primary Outcome Measures

    1. Social Discounting [8 weeks]

      During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, participants will complete a social discounting task. Participants will choose whether to forgo various amounts of money to give to another person. Behavioral and brain responses will be analyzed to assess social discounting in each participant.

    2. Affective Brain Responses to Familiar and Unfamiliar Others [8 weeks]

      During functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning, participants will view images of people who they know and people who they do not know. Affective brain response patterns will be analyzed to assess responding in each participant.

    Secondary Outcome Measures

    1. State Affect Rating [8 weeks]

      Participants will complete the Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) questionnaire. This self-report scale includes 20 items that are rated on a 5-point scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (very much). Positive and negative self-reported affect will be quantified for each participant.

    Eligibility Criteria

    Criteria

    Ages Eligible for Study:
    18 Years to 55 Years
    Sexes Eligible for Study:
    All
    Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
    Yes
    Inclusion Criteria:

    • Is a medically healthy individual

    • Lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area and is able to travel to Georgetown University

    Exclusion Criteria:

    • Has experience with meditation

    • Has any MRI contraindication (e.g. metal in the body, cardiac pacemaker, cannot lie still, etc.)

    • Has any neurological disease

    • Has a current psychiatric disorder

    • Is pregnant or planning to become pregnant

    • Is on medication that affects the central nervous system (e.g. psychotropic drugs)

    Contacts and Locations

    Locations

    Site City State Country Postal Code
    1 Georgetown University Washington District of Columbia United States 20007

    Sponsors and Collaborators

    • Georgetown University

    Investigators

    • Principal Investigator: Abigail A Marsh, PhD, Georgetown University

    Study Documents (Full-Text)

    None provided.

    More Information

    Publications

    None provided.
    Responsible Party:
    Georgetown University
    ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
    NCT03894930
    Other Study ID Numbers:
    • 2010-180
    • BCS-1729406
    First Posted:
    Mar 29, 2019
    Last Update Posted:
    Jun 16, 2021
    Last Verified:
    Jul 1, 2020
    Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
    No
    Plan to Share IPD:
    No
    Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
    No
    Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
    No
    Keywords provided by Georgetown University
    healthy subjects
    prosocial
    metta meditation
    fMRI

    Study Results

    No Results Posted as of Jun 16, 2021