The Long-term Effects of Meditation on Dopamine Tone & Sleep Quality
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation into the Long-term Effects of Meditation on Dopamine Tone and Sleep Quality
IRAS ID
250484
Contact name
Paul J Knytl
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 1 days
Research summary
Previous research has raised the possibility that meditation practice alters striatal dopamine signaling. This is a theoretically and practically important open question as the long term effects of meditation practice still poorly understood, and given the widespread use of meditation both clinically and by the public, there is the potential for disease and drug interactions. Using a randomized controlled approach, this proposal aims to address this question using a novel minimally invasive method. We propose creating a electro-behavioural dopamine response profile by testing each participant on and off a common prescription drug, co-careldopa (carbidopa/levodopa). Once complete, the healthy, meditation naive, participants will then be randomized into either a meditation intervention group or a wait-list control group. The meditation intervention will then proceed for ca. 6 months, at which point the profiling procedure will be repeated. We will then compare the meditation group with the control group, where we expect to see the meditation group's test results will be indicative of increased striatal dopamine levels.
A secondary objective of the study is to collect self-report and wristwatch-based sleep actigraphy data to test whether the intervention will improve participant sleep.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/LO/1385
Date of REC Opinion
8 Oct 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion