An interventional study of Daily practice in Age-related Cognitive Decline and Alzheimer Disease, sponsored by University of Southern California. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 50 Years to 70 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-13.
Sponsored by University of Southern California · Not applicable, Interventional, and Basic science
Some types of meditation lead heart rate to become more steady as breathing quiets whereas others lead to large heart rate swings up and down (oscillations) as breathing becomes deeper and slower. The current study is designed to investigate how daily mindfulness practice with heart rate biofeedback during breathing in a pattern that either increases or decreases heart rate oscillation affect attention and memory and blood biomarkers associated with Alzheimer's disease.
3,678 studies on the registry are indexed under Alzheimer Disease; 872 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 240 is above the median of 70 across 2,808 interventional studies indexed under Alzheimer Disease.
Browse Alzheimer Disease studies →University of Southern California is the lead sponsor of 773 studies on the registry; 135 are open to participants now.
Of its 68 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 32 (47%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion criteria
Have any conditions listed below that are not safe for MRI
Participants will breath at a slow "resonance" frequency during a breath-focused mindfulness practice and receive biofeedback to increase heart rate oscillation.
Behavioral: Daily practice
Participants' breathing will not be fixed to particular frequency during a breath-focused mindfulness practice and they will receive biofeedback to decrease heart rate oscillation.
Behavioral: Daily practice
Participants will be asked to undergo daily mindfulness practice while regulating (either increase or decrease) heart rate oscillation.
Change in plasma amyloid-beta 42 levels
Plasma Ab42 levels will be compared for Week 1 (pre-intervention) and Week 10 (post-intervention). Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction in plasma Ab 42 levels (to assess group differences in change).
Time frame: Week 1 and Week 10
Plasma amyloid-beta 40 levels
Plasma Ab40 levels will be compared for Week 1 (pre-intervention) and Week 10 (post-intervention). Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction in plasma Ab 40 levels (to assess group differences in change).
Time frame: Week 1 and Week 10
Plasma Ab42/40 ratio
Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction with plasma Ab42/40 ratio values as the dependent variable (to assess group differences in change).
Time frame: Week 1 and Week 10
Plasma pTau-181/tTau ratio
Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction with the ratio of pTau-181 and total tau values as the dependent variable (to assess group differences in change).
Time frame: Week 1 and Week 10
Change in brain perivascular space volume
Investigators will test for a time X condition interaction in perivascular space volume.
Time frame: Week 1 and Week 10
Brain training performance on Lumosity games during the breathing intervention
Investigators will compute a general learning factor across performance on all games played daily during the intervention period (Weeks 2-10) and separately across performance on all games played daily before the intervention period (Week 1). Investigators will test for group differences in performance during the intervention, controlling for performance before the intervention.
Time frame: During intervention (daily during Weeks 2-10) and before intervention (daily during Week 1)
Locus coeruleus (LC) responses to novel faces
Investigators will test for a time x condition interaction in phasic LC responses to novel faces during an fMRI face-name task.
Time frame: Week 1 and Week 10
Plan to share: Yes — All individual scores associated with the primary and secondary outcomes will be shared. Functional and structural brain images will be shared. Lumosity game play data will be shared.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
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University of Southern California