Meditation clinical trials at UC Cancer

3 research studies open to eligible people

Showing trials for

  • Compassion Meditation vs. Health Education for Veterans

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    Chronic pain (CP) is a major health problem for military Veterans, and CP is often associated with comorbid mental health problems, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. CP with psychological comorbidity is associated with increased healthcare costs, medication use, risk of suicide and rates of disability and reduced quality of life. Current empirically supported treatments do not always lead to substantial improvements (up to 50% of patients drop out or are do not respond to treatment). This project was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a novel intervention for addressing these challenges. Compassion meditation (CM), a meditative practice that focuses on the wish to remove suffering, is a contemplative practice that has promise for the amelioration of physical and mental health problems as well as promoting positive affect and improving quality of life. This study will evaluate the efficacy of Cognitively-Based Compassion Training for Chronic Pain with Psychological Comorbidity (CBCT-CP+) compared to Health Education while Living with Pain (H.E.L.P.) control condition, in a sample of among Veterans with CP conditions and psychological comorbidity.

    at UCSD

  • Meditation Accelerated Brain Stimulation for Depression

    open to eligible people ages 18 years and up

    Repetitive Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an FDA-approved treatment for depression that involves brief magnetic stimulation pulses on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) brain region. The ultimate goal of this treatment is to increase excitability and long-term plasticity in DLPFC, a brain region shown to be hypo-active in depression. Unfortunately, rTMS only has low to moderate efficacy; remission rates for patients range from ~15-30% in large randomized controlled trials. The focus of this research is to develop a next-generation rTMS protocol that is guided by the basic principles underlying brain plasticity, in order to improve the efficacy of rTMS for the treatment of depression. Specifically, in this study the investigators will test rTMS paired with a depression-relevant cognitive state of internal attention.

    at UCSD

  • Mindfulness Meditation Neuroimaging Study for Undergraduates

    open to all eligible people

    This study is designed to test the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation intervention classes on psychosocial health outcomes. Additionally, the investigators would like to examine changes in the brain that might occur following the mindfulness meditation intervention. The investigators are particularly interested in changes in brain activity that are correlated with changes in inflammation-related markers in the blood. The nervous system and immune system are closely connected, and both are influenced by mindfulness. However, it is unclear whether changes in neural activity are linked with changes in inflammation. A compelling feature of mindfulness interventions is their potential for reducing inflammatory activity; however, this has not been examined in college students. In addition to measuring psychosocial outcomes, the investigators will employ sophisticated, vertically-integrated measures of inflammatory biology that allow the study team to probe intervention effects on circulating markers of inflammation. Thus, the investigators intend to recruit 60 undergraduate students and will randomize them into either a 6-week standardized mindfulness intervention or to a wait-list control group. Participants will complete brain scans, provide blood samples for immune analysis, and complete questionnaires at pre- and post-intervention assessments

    at UCLA

Our lead scientists for Meditation research studies include .

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