HealthyNCT04254796
Neural Mechanisms of Meditation Training in Healthy and Depressed Adolescents: An MRI Connectome Study
A study testing Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA) in people with Healthy, run by University of California, San Francisco at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
The primary objective will be to study changes in putamen structural connectivity in healthy teens with meditation training. Hypothesis: Putamen structural node strength will increase in the training group compared to controls. R61 Go/No-Go Criteria. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 14 to 18 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Healthy
- What is being tested?
- Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 100 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 19 Jun 2020to 20 Dec 2021
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
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 14 to 18 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult
Who may be able to join
- Healthy female and male adolescents, 14-18 years old
- Fluency in English
Who cannot join
- Subjects younger or older than 14-18 years old.
- Subjects who are not healthy. Subjects who are taking any psychotropic medication.
- MRI contraindications (ferromagnetic objects on or inside the body, e.g., braces) and pregnancy.
- Not allowable: Current mindfulness training (e.g. MBSR, MBCT, DBT) and/or practice with a typically sitting meditation or yoga of 20 or more minutes two or more times per week within 60 days prior to study entry.
- Potential adolescent subjects with current drug or alcohol use or dependence that, in the opinion of the site investigator, would interfere with adherence to the study requirements will be excluded and not allowed to enter the study.
- Potential subjects with an inability or unwillingness to give written informed assent or whose legal guardian/representative are unable or unwilling to give written informed consent will be excluded and not allowed to enter the study.
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
The primary objective will be to study changes in putamen structural connectivity in healthy teens with meditation training. Hypothesis: Putamen structural node strength will increase in the training group compared to controls.
R61 Go/No-Go Criteria. Detect an effect size (a threshold of Cohen's d > 0.20) in changes of the primary mechanistic outcome (Putamen structural node strength) by the described meditation training in 100 healthy adolescents that are 14-18 years old and retain at least 80% of randomized participants for primary outcome measurement at the end of the study regardless of adherence to the intervention.
Read more
The secondary objective will be to study changes in emotional problems in healthy teens with meditation training. Hypothesis: There will be a significant decrease in emotional problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in the training group compared to controls.
Design and Outcomes: The current research study design will utilize an individually randomized group treatment, open-label, waitlist-controlled clinical trial to test the efficacy and safety of the investigator's innovative mindfulness meditation intervention (Training for Awareness Resilience and Action [TARA]) on the primary outcome (Putamen structural node strength) and secondary outcome (emotional problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ]) in healthy adolescents between the ages of 14 to 18 years old.
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Being tested
- Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)Behavioural
This will be a 12-week group meditation training - Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| TARA Training | Experimental | 12-week group TARA Training Receives: Behavioral: Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA) |
| Control | No intervention | Waitlist Control |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Change in Putamen Node Strength
Change in the Putamen node strength assessed using diffusion MRI.
Node strengths are calculated as the sum of connection weights between the brain region of interest and all other nodes in the network.
Higher values of node strength in general indicate stronger white matter connectivity between a specific brain region and the other regions, often caused by higher myelination. Higher values of change in node strength, similarly, indicate a higher level of structural network change occurred within the tissue.
Measured: Baseline/randomization and 12 weeks after baseline/randomization
Secondary outcomes (1)
Change in Emotional Problems
Change in the level of emotional problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The emotional problems scores have a possible range of 0 to 10. Higher scores represent higher levels of emotional problems.
Measured: Baseline/randomization and 12 weeks after baseline/randomization
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted5 Feb 2020
- Study start19 Jun 2020
- Primary completion20 Dec 2021
- Study completion20 Dec 2021
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Publications (1)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for HealthyStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by University of California, San FranciscoThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
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
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, San Francisco
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Olga Tymofiyeva, PhD, Principal investigator, University of California, San Francisco
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04254796
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 19-29083
- Other IDs
- 5R25MH060482, 1R61AT009864-01A1
- Status last verified
- Jun 2023
- First submitted
- 31 Jan 2020
- Last updated
- 26 Jun 2023
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Tymofiyeva O, Sipes BS, Luks T, Hamlat EJ, Samson TE, Hoffmann TJ, Glidden DV, Jakary A, Li Y, Ngan T, Henje E, Yang TT. Interoceptive brain network mechanisms of mindfulness-based training in healthy adolescents. Front Psychol. 2024 Aug 13;15:1410319. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1410319. eCollection 2024.
PubMed 39193038
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 26 Jun 2023. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Neural Mechanisms of Meditation Training in Healthy and Depressed Adolescents: An MRI Connectome Study
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT04254796
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 19-29083
- Conditions
- Healthy
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 100 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- University of California, San FranciscoUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- Study start
- 19 Jun 2020 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 20 Dec 2021 (actual)
- Study completion
- 20 Dec 2021 (actual)
- First posted
- 5 Feb 2020 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 26 Jun 2023
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The primary objective will be to study changes in putamen structural connectivity in healthy teens with meditation training. Hypothesis: Putamen structural node strength will increase in the training group compared to controls.
R61 Go/No-Go Criteria. Detect an effect size (a threshold of Cohen's d > 0.20) in changes of the primary mechanistic outcome (Putamen structural node strength) by the described meditation training in 100 healthy adolescents that are 14-18 years old and retain at least 80% of randomized participants for primary outcome measurement at the end of the study regardless of adherence to the intervention.
The secondary objective will be to study changes in emotional problems in healthy teens with meditation training. Hypothesis: There will be a significant decrease in emotional problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) in the training group compared to controls.
Design and Outcomes: The current research study design will utilize an individually randomized group treatment, open-label, waitlist-controlled clinical trial to test the efficacy and safety of the investigator's innovative mindfulness meditation intervention (Training for Awareness Resilience and Action [TARA]) on the primary outcome (Putamen structural node strength) and secondary outcome (emotional problems measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ]) in healthy adolescents between the ages of 14 to 18 years old.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Basic science
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| TARA Training | Experimental | Behavioral: Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)12-week group TARA Training |
| Control | No intervention | –Waitlist Control |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 14 to 18 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Healthy female and male adolescents, 14-18 years old
- Fluency in English
Key exclusion criteria (6 listed)
- Subjects younger or older than 14-18 years old.
- Subjects who are not healthy. Subjects who are taking any psychotropic medication.
- MRI contraindications (ferromagnetic objects on or inside the body, e.g., braces) and pregnancy.
- Not allowable: Current mindfulness training (e.g. MBSR, MBCT, DBT) and/or practice with a typically sitting meditation or yoga of 20 or more minutes two or more times per week within 60 days prior to study entry.
- Potential adolescent subjects with current drug or alcohol use or dependence that, in the opinion of the site investigator, would interfere with adherence to the study requirements will be excluded and not allowed to enter the study.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA)This will be a 12-week group meditation training - Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA) | Behavioural | TARA Training |
Primary outcome
Change in Putamen Node Strength
Time frame: Baseline/randomization and 12 weeks after baseline/randomization
Change in the Putamen node strength assessed using diffusion MRI. Node strengths are calculated as the sum of connection weights between the brain region of interest and all other nodes in the network. Higher values of node strength in general indicate stronger white matter connectivity between a specific brain region and the other regions, often caused by higher myelination. Higher values of change in node strength, similarly, indicate a higher level of structural network change occurred within the tissue.
1 secondary outcome
Change in Emotional Problems
Time frame: Baseline/randomization and 12 weeks after baseline/randomization
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 26 Jun 2023.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Derived from this study: PubMed 39193038Tymofiyeva O, Sipes BS, Luks T, Hamlat EJ, Samson TE, Hoffmann TJ, Glidden DV, Jakary A, Li Y, Ngan T, Henje E, Yang TT. Interoceptive brain network mechanisms of mindfulness-based training in healthy adolescents. Front Psychol. 2024 Aug 13;15:1410319. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1410319. eCollection 2024.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Olga Tymofiyeva, PhD principal investigator
University of California, San Francisco
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Training for Awareness, Resilience, and Action (TARA) in people with Healthy, run by University of California, San Francisco at 1 site in United States.
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 2 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 26 Jun 2023. 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 United States. 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?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 26 Jun 2023). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
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?
Change in Putamen Node Strength (time frame: Baseline/randomization and 12 weeks after baseline/randomization). 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 NCT04254796, which also lists 1 linked publication.
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 26 Jun 2023; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 8 Nov 2026.