Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Post-Stroke Cognition

Summary

The investigators don't fully understand how, regardless of the size or location in the brain, minor strokes can result in significant problems with focus, attention, and multi-tasking that prevent individuals from returning to an active lifestyle, and negatively impact quality of life; but the investigators' preliminary data using magnetoencephalography (MEG) suggest that there may be disruption of the neuronal network and abnormal frontal lobe activity in the brain after stroke. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is effective at treating frontal lobe dysfunction in the form of anxiety and depression occurring during the chronic phase of stroke recovery. The aim of this study is to use MBSR to improve other forms of frontal lobe dysfunction (cognitive outcomes) during the subacute phase of recovery, when patients are making critical decisions regarding patients' ability to return to work or live independently; and to use MEG, a tool capable of imaging brain activity and neuronal networks, to understand the brain changes that correspond to improvement after treatment.

Conditions

• Stroke
• Stroke Sequelae
• Depression
• Cognitive Impairment

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

Participants randomized to the MBSR arm will undergo a standard 8 week course of MBSR taught by a psychologist trained in the MBSR protocol and encouraged to engage in additional individual mindfulness sessions using a cell phone application.

BEHAVIORAL

Stroke Support Group (SSG)

As a control group, participants randomized to the SSG arm will participate in 8 weeks of weekly Stroke Support Group sessions to experience activity and socialization without additional mindfulness training.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Maryland, College Park

  collaborator OTHER

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• Johns Hopkins University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Elisabeth B Marsh, MD · Johns Hopkins University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

100 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-01-01

Primary Completion

2023-06-01

Completion

2023-06-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations