Purpose

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

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Between 18 Years and 55 Years
Eligible Genders
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)

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Basic Science
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
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

More Details

Status
Completed
Sponsor
Georgetown University

Study Contact

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.