Brain and Meditation (BAM) Study

PSS is a 10-item survey scored on a 5 point likert scale from 0 = never to 4 = very often, for a total possible range of scores from 0-40 where higher scores indicate higher perceived stress.

Participants will complete a behavioral pattern separation task . During this task, participants will encode pictures of common objects while performing a basic categorization task. Participants will then label pictures as "Old" (targets, identical objects to those in the encoding phase), "New" (foils, or completely novel objects), or "Similar" (lure items, distinct exemplars of objects seen during encoding). The measure of interest on this task is the "Lure Discrimination Index", which is calculated as the proportion of lures correctly identified as "similar" minus the proportion of foils that are incorrectly identified as "similar". The theoretical range for the pattern separation index is [-1,1], with higher scores indicating better performance.

The PROMIS Depression Score is a measure of feelings of depression in the past 7 days. This is a computer-adaptive survey scored on a 5 point likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always) with higher scores indicating increased depression. For analysis, total scores will be converted to t scores with a mean of 50 and SD of 10. Higher t scores indicate higher levels of depression. A t score >= 59.9 is indicative of moderate depression, a t score >= 65.8 is indicative of moderately severe depression, and a t score >= 71.5 is indicative of severe depression (based on corresponding cutoffs on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9).

The PROMIS Anxiety Score is a measure of feelings of anxiety in the past 7 days. This is a computer-adaptive survey scored on a 5 point likert scale from 1 (never) to 5 (always) with higher scores indicating increased anxiety. For analysis, total scores will be converted to t scores with a mean of 50 and SD of 10. Higher t scores indicate higher levels of anxiety. A t score >= 62.3 is indicative of moderate anxiety and a t score >= 67.7 is indicative of severe anxiety (based on corresponding cutoffs on the General Anxiety Disorder-7).

The PCL-5 is a 20-item survey scored on a 5 point likert scale from 0 (not at all) to 4 (extremely) for a total possible range of score from 0-80 where higher scores indicate more symptoms of PTSD within the last 30 days.

The PROMIS Sleep Disturbance Score is a measure of sleep in the past 7 days. This is a computer-adaptive survey scored on a 5 point likert scale with higher scores indicating increased sleep disturbance. For analysis, total scores will be converted to t scores with a mean of 50 and SD of 10. Higher t scores indicate higher levels of sleep disturbances. A t score >= 45.1 is indicative of significant sleep disturbances (based on a corresponding cutoff of >= 5 on the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index).

The FFMQ-A8 is an 8-item survey scored on a 5 point likert scale from 'never, or very rarely true' to 'very often or always true', for a total possible range of scores from 8-40 where higher scores indicate greater mindfulness awareness.

NIH toolbox Loneliness is a 5-item survey scored on a 5 point likert scale. The average score is taken across items for a total possible range of scores from 1-5, where higher scores indicate increased loneliness.

HMI is a 17-item survey scored on a 5 point likert scale from 0 (never, none, not at all) to 4 (always, every time, to the highest degree) that assesses awareness, connection, insight, and purpose. Higher scores indicate higher sense of awareness, connection, insight, and purpose. Mean score for each subscale will be reported.

Roaming entropy will be calculated according to the formula in Heller et al. (2020). Using continuous GPS location tracking, the measure takes into account distance traveled and distinct locations visited, with a single resulting value reflecting the diversity of movement through one's lived environment (Measured continuously throughout study participation)