Mind and Matter: A look into the psychophysiological effects of mindfulness meditation with PTSD patients

Jahnvi Jain is a senior majoring in Anthropology and Human Biology.  She was awarded a Fall 2019 Independent Grant which she used to conduct research on post traumatic stress disorder under Dr. Negar Fani. 

Hello! My name is Jahnvi and I am a senior studying Anthropology and Human Biology with a minor in Spanish. I currently serve as an undergraduate research assistant in the Fani Affective Neuroscience Lab (FANs) which works with the Grady Trauma Project. Our lab focuses specifically on characterizing the various cognitive and affective manifestations of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We are currently conducting a clinical trial to investigate the effects of an augmented breath-focused mindfulness meditation intervention with highly dissociative PTSD patients. 

Mindfulness has become such a hot topic in popular culture, especially when related to yoga. The benefits of mindfulness have now been targets for many therapy and treatment programs. Our intervention employs a specific version of mindfulness that encourages participants to pay attention to the sensations they feel in their bodies as they breathe. In addition, participants are randomized to receive an augmented form of the breath-focused mindfulness in which they wear a physiological feedback device around their necks. This feedback device allows participants to feel a vibration sensation when they practice their breathing techniques during the intervention. We are hoping that this augmented adaptation can improve dissociative symptoms in PTSD patients. You can read more about what dissociation is and how it is related to PTSD at this website. 

I am currently conducting an honors thesis through the FANs lab to investigate how heart rate variability (HRV) is affected by this augmented mindfulness. Heart rate variability is defined as the time between successive heartbeats, and it is an accepted psychophysiological standard for measuring how well the autonomic nervous system is functioning. I am hopeful that this project will show how this intervention generates actual physiological improvements in patients with PTSD. Undertaking this project showed me how resourceful, tenacious, and responsible researchers have to be with their work. I was so lucky to be able to do this project in a lab that I am truly passionate about. 

What drew me to this lab and participating in this research was that not only would I get to work in the field of neuroscience, but also I would get to experience the clinical component of research and work directly with participants. I am thankful that I get to have such a hands-on role in the lab by running intervention sessions with the participants, running fMRI sessions with them, administering clinical assessments, and building a rapport with them. 

Working with a highly traumatized civilian population presents many challenges that I definitely needed to learn how to navigate. Many of our participants are understandably anxious and hesitant when approaching our intervention, and as a research assistant I want to make them feel absolutely comfortable in the environment. I have learned a lot, and am continuing to learn, how to find a balance between maintaining research professionalism with compassion. As an aspiring physician, I loved learning about patient-interaction skills and fully understand the importance of trauma-informed care in healthcare settings. 

The other side of this project involves a lot of data analysis - both clinical and psychophysiological that I was able to help with. I think I learned a lot about how to problem solve and adapt quickly when working with software, data, and analysis I was not knowledgeable about. I tried to take initiative to learn concepts that I was unfamiliar with and find the information I needed to overcome an obstacle during analysis. The graduate student in our lab and my PI helped immensely with this portion and I have learned so much under their guidance. 

During this spring semester, I will continue to collect and analyze HRV data to support my honors thesis. I will also be presenting a poster on this project at the national ADAA conference this March. Being a part of this lab and having the opportunity to execute my project this past fall gave me invaluable techniques and skills. It has truly been an amazing experience to be a part of this incredible trial. The resilient participants we work with remind me how important research is and how much people can benefit from these studies. I hope that my project can make a small contribution to this tremendous body of PTSD research as we try to mitigate the effects of this debilitating condition. 

 Visit the Undergraduate Research Programs website to learn more about applying for Independent Research Grants.