Mechanisms of Mindfulness Meditation and Self-Hypnosis for Pain in Older Adults With Chronic Pain

Summary

The goal of this study is to better understand how two common psychological treatments for pain work in the brain of older adults living with chronic pain. This study will:

1. evaluate fMRI of adults receiving psychological treatments for chronic pain to determine how these interventions work within older adults, and
2. examine self-report and EEG variables to identify for whom do these psychological interventions work.

Adults ages 60 years and older, living with chronic pain for at least 3 months will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions:

1. Mindfulness-Meditation
2. Therapeutic Hypnosis
3. Story Listening

Conditions

• Chronic Pain

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mindfulness Meditation

The Mindfulness Meditation trainings will teach participants Shamatha Vipassana, which is the specific form of Mindfulness Meditation typically implemented in mindfulness research. The emphasis is placed upon developing focused attention on an object of awareness, such as the breath. This focus is then expanded to include a more open, non-judgmental monitoring of any sensory, emotional, or cognitive events. Participants will be invited to lie flat on their back (i.e., to mimic conditions in the MRI scanner) and will listen to a recorded Mindfulness Meditation script.

BEHAVIORAL

Therapeutic Hypnosis

In the Therapeutic Hypnosis group, participants will relax with their eyes closed and, as with Mindfulness Meditation, will lie flat on their lack and will listen to a recorded hypnotic script. The Therapeutic Hypnosis practice will include an induction followed by suggestions for decreased pain and improvement in comorbid symptoms (e.g., mood).

BEHAVIORAL

Story Listening

Participants will lie flat on their back and will listen to a recorded story from a natural history book.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Queensland

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Florida

  collaborator OTHER

• University of California, San Diego

  collaborator OTHER

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Washington

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mark Jensen, PhD · University of Washington

• Melissa Day, PhD · The University of Queensland

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-02-10

Primary Completion

2029-08-31

Completion

2029-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations