Interactions Between Placebo Effects and Mindful Awareness State

Summary

In this experiment,the investigators study the effects of interpersonally induced placebo effects and a mindful awareness induction on negative affect. Specifically, it will be examining the effects of interpersonally induced placebo effects (sham tDCS vs. control) and a mindful awareness induction (mindful state vs. control), as well as their interaction. Each group will undergo fMRI scanning and physiological recording will performing the Multimodal Negative Affect Task (MNAT).

Conditions

• Placebo Effect
• Mindfulness
• Pain
• Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

tDCS stimulation (sham)

Participants will receive sham tDCS stimulation in a 20 minute long task. Targets will be fitted with the tDCS stimulation electrode cap and instructed that they will receive 20 minutes of tDCS stimulation for the task. Sham tDCS will target the motor cortex at 2mA for 15 sec at the beginning of the session, and then the stimulator will turn off. The participant will then sit for the remaining time of the session with the electrode cap on their heads but turned off and not delivering stimulation. All participants will receive sham tDCS stimulation (n=120).

BEHAVIORAL

tDCS stimulation (real)

In their second session, participants will receive real tDCS stimulation in a 20 minute long task. Targets will be fitted with the tDCS stimulation electrode cap and instructed that they will receive 20 minutes of tDCS stimulation for the task. Real tDCS stimulation will target the motor cortex at 2mA for 20 minutes (full duration of task). All participants will receive real tDCS stimulation (n=120).

BEHAVIORAL

Mindful state induction

Experimenters trained in high-competence and high-warmth will train Group 1 participants on mindful state induction (n=60). Participants will undergo two stages for this training: 1) pain education to increase beliefs in endogenous brain regulatory capacities; and 2) the Stanford Hypnotic Induction Profile (HIP) test of hypnotizability and hypnotic induction of a relaxed state receptive to suggestion. In Stage 1, participants will receive education that pain and affect are processes designed to protect the body from danger, which are transmitted rapidly and automatically to the brain. In Stage 2, participants are (a) seated in an upright, alert posture; and (b) receive suggestions that the ability to attend to and discriminate affective perceptions is achievable and that suppressing attention to the body and focusing on the task will allow them to perform optimally under pressure. Mindful state induction will only be explicitly instructed during session 1 for Group 1 participants.

BEHAVIORAL

No minfulness induction

Participants in the No-mindfulness group will go through comparable stages but with different instructions. In the first stage, they will receive education about pain and affect as protective processes of the body. In the second stage, they will be seated in an upright, alert posture and receive suggestions to focus on the task and suppress attention to the body.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Trustees of Dartmouth College

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Tor Wager, Ph.D. · Dartmouth College

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

55 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-06-01

Primary Completion

2028-06-01

Completion

2028-11-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations