Resilience to Sleep Deprivation and Changes in Sleep Architecture in Shoonya Meditators

NCT ID: NCT05026541

Last Updated: 2025-02-06

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

60 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-09-12

Study Completion Date

2025-12-31

Brief Summary

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This study aims to investigate the effect of a 15-minute meditation practice on sleep architecture and high-frequency Heart Rate Variability (HF-HRV), as well as cognitive performance after both a well-rested and sleep-deprived night.

Detailed Description

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Sleep is physiologically important for memory consolidation, mood and hormonal regulation, and maintaining low levels of systemic inflammation. However, a substantial proportion of people are reported to regularly sleep less than the recommended 7-9 hours a night. Meditation may be a means to mitigate the negative effects of sleep deprivation, as many types of meditations are associated with increasing high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), which is an index of parasympathetic control of the heart. Greater parasympathetic drive may be associated with physiological buffering of the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation.

The investigators want to conduct a prospective cohort study where subjects are asked to learn and practice a 15-minute meditation (shoonya meditation) or continue their usual routine. Subjects will be asked to complete some cognitive tests before and after a night of sleep and a night of sleep deprivation. During the night of sleep, participants will undergo polysomnography recording for sleep architecture and quality.

The intervention group will be asked to undergo these same study procedures after 2 months of meditation practice. The control group, which continues their usual routine, will only undergo one visit.

Conditions

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Sleep Sleep Deprivation Cognitive Change

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Nap Practitioners

This is an observational arm of regular nappers. Individuals that take naps at least two times a week will be invited to undergo all of the study procedures for one weekend of data collection.

Group Type SHAM_COMPARATOR

Nap Practitioners

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Regular nappers will be given a 30 minute nap opportunity to nap for as long as they please.

Shoonya Meditators

This is intervention arm. Participants will learn and practice the fifteen minute shoonya meditation - described as a process of conscious non-doing- and shakti chalana kriya, which is a set of breathing exercises designed as a preparatory practice to shoonya meditation. Participants will practice shoonya meditation twice a day for two months. A weekend of data collection will happen at baseline and two months after they learn the practice.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Shoonya Meditation

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

This is a 15 minute meditation, described as a process of conscious non-doing.

Control Meditators

Control subjects will be individuals that have learned the prerequisite meditation to Shoonya meditation. This meditation is called Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya. Control subjects will not learn Shoonya meditation while they are participating in the study. One weekend of data collection will occur at baseline.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Nap Practitioners

Regular nappers will be given a 30 minute nap opportunity to nap for as long as they please.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Shoonya Meditation

This is a 15 minute meditation, described as a process of conscious non-doing.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Shoonya meditation program participants/individuals eligible to participate who are healthy adults of age 18 or older, and reside in the United States. Participants must be able and willing to travel to Boston.
2. Nap Group: Healthy adults of age 18 or older that reside in the United States, nap regularly (at least 3 times a week), and do not meditate regularly.

Exclusion Criteria

1. History of any neurological condition (i.e. Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, brain tumors, brain surgery, or multiple sclerosis)
2. History of any psychiatric disorder, within last 5 years (i.e. anxiety, psychosis, posttraumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder)
3. Current use of cognition enhancing medications
4. Active history (within the last 5 years) of alcohol or drug abuse (\> 10 drinks per week)
5. History (within the last 5 years) of stroke/aneurysm
6. Recent history (\< 3 months) of seizures
7. 60 years of age or older
8. History of Heart Attack and Ejection Fraction less than or equal to 30%
9. Pregnancy
10. Non-English speaking
11. History/Diagnosis of any sleep disorder
12. Consumption of 3 or more cups of coffee a day
13. Previously learned shoonya meditation (for the meditator groups)
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

60 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Balachundhar Subramaniam

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Balachundhar Subramaniam, MD, MPH

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Locations

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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Balachundhar Subramaniam, MD, MPH

Role: CONTACT

617-667-2721

Sepideh Hariri, PhD

Role: CONTACT

617-667-2721

Facility Contacts

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Balachundhar Subramaniam, MD, MPH

Role: primary

617-667-2721

References

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Heyde I, Kiehn JT, Oster H. Mutual influence of sleep and circadian clocks on physiology and cognition. Free Radic Biol Med. 2018 May 1;119:8-16. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2017.11.003. Epub 2017 Nov 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
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Ben Simon E, Rossi A, Harvey AG, Walker MP. Overanxious and underslept. Nat Hum Behav. 2020 Jan;4(1):100-110. doi: 10.1038/s41562-019-0754-8. Epub 2019 Nov 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 31685950 (View on PubMed)

Krause AJ, Simon EB, Mander BA, Greer SM, Saletin JM, Goldstein-Piekarski AN, Walker MP. The sleep-deprived human brain. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2017 Jul;18(7):404-418. doi: 10.1038/nrn.2017.55. Epub 2017 May 18.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28515433 (View on PubMed)

Tang YY, Holzel BK, Posner MI. The neuroscience of mindfulness meditation. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2015 Apr;16(4):213-25. doi: 10.1038/nrn3916. Epub 2015 Mar 18.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25783612 (View on PubMed)

Braboszcz C, Cahn BR, Levy J, Fernandez M, Delorme A. Increased Gamma Brainwave Amplitude Compared to Control in Three Different Meditation Traditions. PLoS One. 2017 Jan 24;12(1):e0170647. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0170647. eCollection 2017.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28118405 (View on PubMed)

Kaul P, Passafiume J, Sargent CR, O'Hara BF. Meditation acutely improves psychomotor vigilance, and may decrease sleep need. Behav Brain Funct. 2010 Jul 29;6:47. doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-6-47.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20670413 (View on PubMed)

Maruthai N, Nagendra RP, Sasidharan A, Srikumar S, Datta K, Uchida S, Kutty BM. Senior Vipassana Meditation practitioners exhibit distinct REM sleep organization from that of novice meditators and healthy controls. Int Rev Psychiatry. 2016 Jun;28(3):279-87. doi: 10.3109/09540261.2016.1159949. Epub 2016 Apr 8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27055575 (View on PubMed)

Killgore WD. Effects of sleep deprivation on cognition. Prog Brain Res. 2010;185:105-29. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-53702-7.00007-5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21075236 (View on PubMed)

Thayer JF, Lane RD. Claude Bernard and the heart-brain connection: further elaboration of a model of neurovisceral integration. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2009 Feb;33(2):81-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2008.08.004. Epub 2008 Aug 13.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 18771686 (View on PubMed)

Lischke A, Lemke D, Neubert J, Hamm AO, Lotze M. Inter-individual differences in heart rate variability are associated with inter-individual differences in mind-reading. Sci Rep. 2017 Sep 14;7(1):11557. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-11290-1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28912591 (View on PubMed)

Kong SDX, Hoyos CM, Phillips CL, McKinnon AC, Lin P, Duffy SL, Mowszowski L, LaMonica HM, Grunstein RR, Naismith SL, Gordon CJ. Altered heart rate variability during sleep in mild cognitive impairment. Sleep. 2021 Apr 9;44(4):zsaa232. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsaa232.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 33306103 (View on PubMed)

Libby DJ, Worhunsky PD, Pilver CE, Brewer JA. Meditation-induced changes in high-frequency heart rate variability predict smoking outcomes. Front Hum Neurosci. 2012 Mar 19;6:54. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2012.00054. eCollection 2012.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22457646 (View on PubMed)

Koerten HR, Watford TS, Dubow EF, O'Brien WH. Cardiovascular effects of brief mindfulness meditation among perfectionists experiencing failure. Psychophysiology. 2020 Apr;57(4):e13517. doi: 10.1111/psyp.13517. Epub 2020 Feb 4.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32020660 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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2021P000544

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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