Meditation Strategies, Attention, and Mobility in Older Adults
Mobility Limitation
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Mobility Limitation focused on measuring Meditation, Cognitive assessment, Executive function, Older adults, Randomized control trial, Mobility
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- minimum 60 years of age,
- minimum completed high school,
- must be comfortable writing and reading English,
- be able to walk independently,
- must be right-handed (for EEG analysis),
- score 6+/8 on the instrumental activities of daily living scale,
- score >24/30 on the Mini-Mental Status examination.
Exclusion Criteria:
To be included, participants must NOT:
- have a diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease,
- have a diagnosis of cognitive impairment (e.g., MCI),
- have a diagnosis of a psychiatric condition,
- have had a concussion in the last 12 months,
- have had a stroke,
- have musculoskeletal or joint disease,
- experience dizziness or loss of balance,
- have visual, auditory, or somatosensory impairment, or
- a recent history (past 2 years) of regular meditation practice (1 or more times per week) or include a meditation component in their religious practice.
Sites / Locations
- CommunityRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
Active Comparator
Guided focused attention
Acoustic music
Participants will take part in a guided focused attention practice led by the researcher. This will include strategies used in meditations where participants focus on their breathing. More specifically, they will be instructed to close their eyes and focus on the sensation of breathing in one area of the body for the entire session. They will be given reminders throughout the session to remain on task (focusing on the breath) and not to let their thoughts wander. Participants will be asked to either sit on a chair or cushion on floor to ensure they are comfortable to sit still for the session, but not so much that they might fall asleep.
Participants will be instructed to listen to a prepared soothing acoustic music track. The sessions will be led by a researcher. Participants will be asked to close their eyes and relax while listening to the music. Participants will be asked to sit on a chair or cushion on floor to ensure they are comfortable to sit still for the session, but not so much they might fall asleep This group is used as active control group to control for socialization in group settings and any effects of consciously relaxing for the meetings.