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Active, not recruitingNCT02503475Updated Sep 27, 2024

Stanford Center for Back Pain

An interventional study of Real-Time fMRI and CBT or MBSR in Chronic Low Back Pain, sponsored by Stanford University. Active, not recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 21 Years to 65 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-09-27.

Sponsored by Stanford University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
300
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
21 Years to 65 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The purpose of the Stanford Center for Back Pain is to investigate and characterize the mechanisms of four treatments for chronic low back pain. These interventions (research treatment) include real-time fMRI neurofeedback, mindfulness based stress reduction, cognitive behavioral therapy, and acupuncture treatment. The investigators plan to characterize both mechanisms of treatment effects and efficacy.

Read the detailed description

The Stanford Center for Back Pain establishes a collaborative, multidisciplinary research program to investigate CAM interventions for the treatment of chronic low back pain (CLBP). The investigators' overall goal is to characterize the shared and distinct mechanisms of four CAM interventions and translate the investigators' findings to tailored and effective treatments for CLBP. CLBP is a highly prevalent and difficult-to-treat condition for which many patients seek CAM therapies. Basic science has revealed that abnormalities in central pain modulatory and emotion regulatory systems play a crucial role in CLBP. What is not clear is how CAM therapies alter the functioning of the brain systems involved in chronic pain. The Stanford Center for Back Pain aims to fill this gap by conducting 3 projects, each aiming at elucidating mechanisms underlying different CAM therapies for CLBP.

Project 1 will focus on a promising novel alternative therapy for CLBP real-time fMRI neurofeedback which trains patients to control specific neural processes that lead to improvements in pain. Project 2 will characterize the pain modulatory and emotion regulatory effects of mindfulness based stress reduction and cognitive behavioral therapy for CLBP. Project 3 will characterize psychophysical and neuroimaging based neural mechanisms underlying verum and placebo acupuncture.

The Stanford Center for Back Pain will provide optimal collaboration and synergy within a multidisciplinary framework to identify mechanisms of CAM therapies for CLBP so that they can eventually translate them into enhance clinical care of CLBP.

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Conditions studied

  • Chronic Low Back Pain
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In context

Back Pain

2,373 studies on the registry are indexed under Back Pain; 284 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 300 is above the median of 60 across 1,941 interventional studies indexed under Back Pain.

Browse Back Pain studies →

Lead sponsor

Stanford University is the lead sponsor of 2,117 studies on the registry; 425 are open to participants now.

Of its 259 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 197 (76%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
21 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • English Fluency
  • Chronic Low Back Pain as defined by NIH task-force or Healthy Controls

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • MRI contraindications
  • Pregnant or planning to become pregnant
  • Medical conditions that would interfere with study procedures, at the discretion of the study team
  • Neurologic disorder, history of seizures, stroke, or brain abnormalities, which would interfere with brain integrity, at the discretion of the study team.
  • Mental health conditions or treatment for mental health problems that would interfere with study procedures, at the discretion of the study team.
  • Other project specific criteria may apply.
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
300 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Other
    Project 1- Real-Time fMRI

    This arm investigates Real-Time fMRI within 4 groups: Attention Regulation (AR) Group- Experimental Cognitive Regulation (CR) Group- Experimental Sham Group- Sham Comparator Free Strategy Group- Active Comparator

    Other: Real-Time fMRI

  • Experimental
    Project 2 - CBT/MBSR

    This arm investigates 2 experimental groups: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

    Behavioral: CBT or MBSR

  • Other
    Project 3- Acupuncture

    This arm investigates Acupuncture within 2 groups: Verum- Experimental Sham- Sham comparator

    Device: Acupuncture

Interventions

  • OtherReal-Time fMRI

    Real-Time fMRI: AR, CR, Sham, and Free Strategy groups will be compared to determine the following: (1) whether a cognitive strategy improves rtfMRI neurofeedback to modulate brain activity and pain; (2) which strategy is most effective at individual and group levels at modulating brain activity and pain; and (3) whether the investigators can predict individual ability to modulate brain activity or pain using a particular strategy and applying mixed effects modeling of treatment efficacy using baseline measurements.

  • BehavioralCBT or MBSR

    CBT/MBSR: The study will investigate whether CBT versus MBSR differentially enhance behavioral and neural indices of the ability to implement cognitive regulation (CR) and attention regulation (AR) during evoked pain in the lower back in participants with chronic low back pain. An additional wait list control (WL) group will be used to determine the effects of time on pain symptom severity and well-being.

  • DeviceAcupuncture

    Acupuncture: The investigators will compare the efficacy and mechanisms of verum and sham electroacupuncture.

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Changes in pain severity

    Visual Analogue Scale from 0 to 100, where 0=no pain and 100=worst pain imaginable

    Time frame: Up to 12 months post-treatment

Secondary outcomes

  1. Changes in pain symptom severity and well being

    Responses to NIH PROMIS measures such as Pain Interference, Pain Behavior, Physical Function, Fatigue, Sleep Disturbance

    Time frame: Up to 12 months post-treatment

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Study locations

1 site
  • Stanford University
    Palo Alto, California 94304, United States
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References and documents

Publications

  • Mackey S, Gilam G, Darnall B, Goldin P, Kong JT, Law C, Heirich M, Karayannis N, Kao MC, Tian L, Manber R, Gross J. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Acupuncture in Chronic Low Back Pain: Protocol for Two Linked Randomized Controlled Trials. JMIR Res Protoc. 2022 Sep 27;11(9):e37823. doi: 10.2196/37823. PubMed 36166279 ↗
  • Kong JT, MacIsaac B, Cogan R, Ng A, Law CSW, Helms J, Schnyer R, Karayannis NV, Kao MC, Tian L, Darnall BD, Gross JJ, Mackey S, Manber R. Central mechanisms of real and sham electroacupuncture in the treatment of chronic low back pain: study protocol for a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Trials. 2018 Dec 13;19(1):685. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-3044-2. PubMed 30541586 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 27, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02503475
Lead sponsor
Stanford University
Responsible party
Sean Mackey (Redlich Professor Departments of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine | Neurosciences | Neurology (by courtesy), Chief, Division of Pain Medicine, Director, Stanford Systems Neuroscience and Pain Lab (SNAPL), Stanford University, Stanford University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jul 21, 2015
Start date
Mar 2015
Primary completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 27, 2024

Study contacts

Sean Mackey, MD, PhD
principal investigator · Stanford University
James Gross, PhD
principal investigator · Stanford University
Rachel Manber, PhD
principal investigator · Stanford University
Sean Mackey, MD, PhD
study director · Stanford University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Sep 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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