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HealthyMEDITATIONNCT03117478

Brain and Mindfulness

A study testing Magneto-encephalography (MEG), Electro-encephalography (EEG) and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in people with Healthy, run by Hospices Civils de Lyon at 1 site in France.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The main aim of this project is to explore the neuro-anatomical and -physiological correlates of meditation on attention and emotion-regulation. By investigating this, our scientific goal is to more generally identify the mechanisms and biomarkers of health and mental well-being. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 25 to 70 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Healthy
What is being tested?
Magneto-encephalography (MEG), Electro-encephalography (EEG) and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
169 participants
Where
1 siteFrance
Study dates
19 Mar 2016to 16 Oct 2019
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 25 to 70 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Age : 25-70
  • Being affiliated to a social security system.
  • Motivated to participate in this study.

Who cannot join

  • Medication acting on the central nervous system
  • Opioids, Antidepressive Agents.
  • Actual or previous neurological or psychiatric illnesses
  • Chronic pain or any other medical condition which is related to pain or an increased sensitivity to pain.
  • Not having a personal or family history of epilepsy
  • Alcohol or drugs consumption 2 days before or during the study.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

France1 site

  • Le Vinatier

    Bron, 69500

Other trials in France

About this study

Official title: The Impact of Meditation Practice on Attention and Emotion Regulation :Studies on Neural Correlation in Brain Imagery and Biomarkers of Stress and Inflammation

The main aim of this project is to explore the neuro-anatomical and -physiological correlates of meditation on attention and emotion-regulation. By investigating this, our scientific goal is to more generally identify the mechanisms and biomarkers of health and mental well-being. Therefore, the investigators use non-invasive imaging like Magneto-EncephaloGraphy (MEG), ElectroEncephaloGraphy (EEG), functional and anatomic Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI; including Diffusion tensor - DTI). These brain measures will then be linked to behavioral measurements. Experimental methods (i.e., simple computer tasks) will be used to measure attention, conscious perception and regulation of pain and emotion.

Conditions
Healthy
Being tested
Magneto-encephalography (MEG), Electro-encephalography (EEG), Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI), Meditation

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Magneto-encephalography (MEG)Other

    Magneto-encephalography

  • Electro-encephalography (EEG)Other

    Electro-encephalography

  • Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)Other

    Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

  • Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI)Other

    Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging

  • MeditationOther

    Meditation

Study groups in NCT03117478
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
1. Participants without meditation experienceOtherNovices. Note that there is no meditation intervention in this study but that the two groups differ in their lifetime meditation experience.
Receives: Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI); Other: Meditation
2. Participant with a significant meditation experienceOtherExperts : > 5000 hours of practice during their life. Note that there is no meditation intervention in this study but that the two groups differ in their lifetime meditation experience.
Receives: Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI); Other: Meditation
3. Participants without meditation experienceOtherNovices. There is no meditation intervention during the study but the investigators investigate the effects of meditation by comparing 2 groups who differ in their life time meditation experience (i.e., novices vs. experts).
Receives: Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI)
4. Participant with a significant meditation experienceOtherExperts : > 5000 hours of practice during their life. There is no meditation intervention during the study but the investigators investigate the effects of meditation by comparing 2 groups who differ in their life time meditation experience (i.e., novices vs. experts).
Receives: Other: Magneto-encephalography (MEG); Other: Electro-encephalography (EEG); Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); Other: Anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI)

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Anatomical MRI scan

    Brain structure

    Measured: Day 1

  2. Functional MRI scan

    Brain activation: Haemodynamic response - BOLD signal.

    Measured: Day1

  3. EEG

    Event-related potential fields : amplitude in fT and latency in ms. Oscillations : power spectral density and time-frequency oscillations in fT^2/Hz

    Measured: Day 1

Secondary outcomes (12)

  1. Behavioral measure : Accuracy of the performed task actions

    Participants will perform behavioral computer tasks in which accuracy and speed is important. Performance behavior will be measured in this task: Accuracy of the performed task actions: number of errors and hits

    Measured: Day 1

  2. Psychophysics: Pain threshold

    Pain threshold: The threshold of pain or pain threshold is the point along a curve of increasing perception of a stimulus at which pain begins to be felt. The temperature in degrees Celcius at which heat becomes painful for a recipient.

    Measured: Day 1

  3. Psychophysiology : Respiration

    Respiration rate: breaths/minute

    Measured: Day 1

  4. Subjective experience of the participant

    Measured: Day 1

  5. Studies biomarkers of inflammation

    area of the inflamed site in mm^2, obtained by automatic image processing of a photography

    Measured: Day 1

  6. Behavioral measure : Speed of the performed task actions

    Participants will perform behavioral computer tasks in which accuracy and speed is important. Performance behavior will be measured in this task: Speed of the performed task actions: in ms.

    Measured: Day 1

  7. Psychophysiology : Heart

    Heart Rate: pulses/minute

    Measured: Day 1

  8. Psychophysiology : Heart rate variability

    Heart rate variability (HRV): Using an electrocardiogram, the variation in the beat-to-beat interval; measured in ms.

    Measured: Day 1

  9. Psychophysiology : Muscles

    Electromyography (EMG): Recording the electrical activity produced by muscles; measured in mV.

    Measured: Day 1

  10. Psychophysiology : Eyes

    Eye gaze position: relative to center of the screen, in imm

    Measured: Day 1

  11. Psychophysiology : Pupillar response

    Pupillar response: pupil diameter, in mm.

    Measured: Day 1

  12. Electrogastrogram

    Recording the electrical signals that travel through the stomach muscles and control the muscles' contractions (waves/minute)

    Measured: Day 1

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted18 Apr 2017
  2. Study start19 Mar 2016
  3. Primary completion16 Oct 2019
  4. Study completion16 Oct 2019

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Basic science
Allocation
Non-randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
169 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03117478
Sponsor's protocol ID
69HCL16_0678
Acronym
MEDITATION
Status last verified
Sep 2025
First submitted
8 Feb 2017
Last updated
19 Sep 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No

Publications

  • Zorn J, Abdoun O, Sonie S, Lutz A. Cognitive Defusion Is a Core Cognitive Mechanism for the Sensory-Affective Uncoupling of Pain During Mindfulness Meditation. Psychosom Med. 2021 Jul-Aug 01;83(6):566-578. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000938.

    PubMed 33790200

  • Poublan-Couzardot A, Lecaignard F, Fucci E, Davidson RJ, Mattout J, Lutz A, Abdoun O. Time-resolved dynamic computational modeling of human EEG recordings reveals gradients of generative mechanisms for the MMN response. PLoS Comput Biol. 2023 Dec 13;19(12):e1010557. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010557. eCollection 2023 Dec.

    PubMed 38091350

  • Poletti S, Abdoun O, Zorn J, Lutz A. Pain regulation during mindfulness meditation: Phenomenological fingerprints in novices and experts practitioners. Eur J Pain. 2021 Aug;25(7):1583-1602. doi: 10.1002/ejp.1774. Epub 2021 Apr 22.

    PubMed 33797842

  • Katyal S, Abdoun O, Mounier H, Lutz A. Reduced processing of afforded actions while observing mental content as ongoing mental phenomena. Sci Rep. 2024 May 2;14(1):10130. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-60934-6.

    PubMed 38698150

  • Fucci E, Poublan-Couzardot A, Abdoun O, Lutz A. No effect of focused attention and open monitoring meditation on EEG auditory mismatch negativity in expert and novice practitioners. Int J Psychophysiol. 2022 Jun;176:62-72. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.03.010. Epub 2022 Mar 28.

    PubMed 35358612

  • Fucci E, Abdoun O, Baquedano C, Lutz A. Ready to help, no matter what you did: Responsibility attribution does not influence compassion in expert Buddhist practitioners. J Exp Psychol Gen. 2024 Apr;153(4):1093-1111. doi: 10.1037/xge0001542. Epub 2024 Feb 22.

    PubMed 38386366

  • Czajko S, Zorn J, Daumail L, Chetelat G, Margulies DS, Lutz A. Exploring the Embodied Mind: Functional Connectome Fingerprinting of Meditation Expertise. Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2024 Aug 9;4(6):100372. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100372. eCollection 2024 Nov.

    PubMed 39309211

  • Zorn J, Abdoun O, Bouet R, Lutz A. Mindfulness meditation is related to sensory-affective uncoupling of pain in trained novice and expert practitioners. Eur J Pain. 2020 Aug;24(7):1301-1313. doi: 10.1002/ejp.1576. Epub 2020 May 7.

    PubMed 32311185

  • Fucci E, Abdoun O, Lutz A. Auditory perceptual learning is not affected by anticipatory anxiety in the healthy population except for highly anxious individuals: EEG evidence. Clin Neurophysiol. 2019 Jul;130(7):1135-1143. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.04.010. Epub 2019 Apr 27.

    PubMed 31085447

  • Abdoun O, Zorn J, Poletti S, Fucci E, Lutz A. Training novice practitioners to reliably report their meditation experience using shared phenomenological dimensions. Conscious Cogn. 2019 Feb;68:57-72. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.01.004. Epub 2019 Jan 15.

    PubMed 30658238

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Magneto-encephalography (MEG), Electro-encephalography (EEG) and Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) in people with Healthy, run by Hospices Civils de Lyon at 1 site in France.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 3 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 19 Sep 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in France. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Anatomical MRI scan (time frame: Day 1). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03117478, which also lists 10 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 19 Sep 2025.

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Brain and Mindfulness (NCT03117478) | AzTrials