Mindfulness Breathing Practice with Heart Rate Biofeedback to Support Attention, Memory, and Alzheimers-Related Biomarkers in Adults Aged 50 to 70

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying how different types of daily mindfulness breathing exercises with heart rate biofeedback affect attention, memory, and blood markers linked to Alzheimers disease and age-related cognitive decline. The study focuses on people aged 50 to 70 who are fluent in English and either BlackAfrican-American or WhiteEuropean-American. It aims to understand how changing heart rate patterns during breathing can influence brain health and cognitive function. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups one that practices breathing at a slow resonance frequency to increase heart rate oscillation with biofeedback, and another that practices breathing without a fixed frequency to decrease heart rate oscillation with biofeedback. The intervention involves daily mindfulness practice lasting up to 50 minutes for 10 weeks, along with two campus visits for assessments. During the study, participants will provide blood and urine samples, complete daily brain training games, and undergo brain imaging scans. Researchers will measure changes in plasma amyloid-beta levels and brain perivascular space volume between Week 1 and Week 10. The study includes safety monitoring and aims to track how these interventions may affect cognitive and biological markers over the 10-week period.

Cardiac-Control Affecting Learning Through Mindfulness (CALM)