Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Active, Not Recruiting

NCT Number: NCT05645835

Dynamic Neural Systems Underlying Social-emotional Functions in Older Adults

Assess the impact of a remote, app-delivered digital meditation intervention on emotional well-being of lonely older adults. Neuroimaging, electrophysiological (EEG), and autonomic physiology will be used to assess the neural correlates of the intervention. EEG and autonomic physiology will be collected while participants watch 30 min of an awe-inspiring movie. fMRI and autonomic physiology will be collected in the context of a social exploration/exploitation task.

Active, Not Recruiting

This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

Key information

Conditions

Loneliness Digital Intervention EEG Emotions Meditation Older Adults fMRI

Age range

60 year–120 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of California San Francisco

San Francisco, California, 94158, United States

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • 60 years of age or older
  • English language fluency
  • Naive to meditation practices (not actively meditating more than one hour per month and/or meditation practice for less than a year in their entire life-time)
  • No MRI contra-indications
  • Cognitively healthy (no diagnosis of dementia, stroke, developmental disorders, or major systemic diseases that may impact cognitive function)

Exclusion criteria

  • Below 60 years of age
  • Not fluent in English
  • Active meditator (meditating more than one hour per month and/or meditation practice for more than a year in their entire life-time).
  • Presence of a severe psychiatric (e.g. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD), neurological (epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, dementia, multiple sclerosis), or developmental disorder (e.g. autism)
  • Systemic disease (e.g. major recent surgeries, cancer)
  • Claustrophobia
  • Contraindications for MR safety (e.g. metal in body, cochlea implants)

Treatment and study plan

Intervention

Behavioral

the digital meditation app will be installed on participants iPad or android. Lonely older adults will use the app five days a week for six weeks total. Neuroimaging will be performed before and after the intervention.

Waitlist Control

Behavioral

Participants in the waitlist group will have to wait six weeks after being screened before being able to use the meditation app after the assessment of primary and secondary endpoints

No interventions

Other

No intervention. Only baseline fMRI and EEG assessment.

Primary outcomes

  1. Change in the WHO-5 Well-Being Index

    Time frame: Change in well-being from baseline to directly after completing the intervention (6 weeks)

    WHO-5 ranges from 0-25, with higher values indicating higher well-being

Secondary outcomes

  1. Change in the 20-item UCLA loneliness scale

    Time frame: Change in loneliness from baseline to directly after completing the intervention (6 weeks)

    This scale ranges from 20-80, with higher values indicating higher loneliness

  2. Change in the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7)

    Time frame: Change in anxiety from baseline to directly after completing the intervention (6 weeks)

    This scale ranges from 0-21, with higher values indicating higher anxiety

  3. Change in Psychological Stress Measure (PSM-9)

    Time frame: Change in stress from baseline to directly after completing the intervention (6 weeks)

    This scale ranges from 9-72, with higher values indicating higher stress

  4. Change in Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

    Time frame: Change in depression from baseline to directly after completing the intervention (6 weeks)

    This scale ranges from 0-27, with higher values indicating higher depression

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of California, San Francisco

Other

Collaborators

  • National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Registry information

Acronym: Dynamo

Important dates

Study start
2023
Primary completion
2025
Study completion
2026
First posted
Dec 12, 2022
Registry last updated
Dec 24, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.