HEARTBEAM: Heart-Brain Engagement for Adolescent Meditation

Overview

This study will test whether adolescents can build mindfulness and emotional regulation skills by playing virtual reality games powered by their own heart-brain connection. Through this research, investigators aim to harness immersive, biofeedback-based gameplay to induce meditative states and promote embodied awareness—offering a fun, scalable path to adolescent well-being without formal meditation training.

Abstract

Contemporary neuroscientific investigations increasingly implicate aberrant interoceptive processing as a fundamental transdiagnostic mechanism underlying diverse psychopathological conditions. The adolescent developmental window represents a critical intervention opportunity to cultivate heightened awareness and familiarity with bodily sensations as a protective intervention preceding typical affective disorder onset. This double-blind, randomized controlled trial (n=117, ages 10-14) investigates the efficacy of a novel gamified neurofeedback paradigm utilizing heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) to enhance interoceptive sensibility and psychological well-being in adolescents.

The intervention leverages HEP amplitude at electrode C3—a neurophysiological signature reflecting individualized cardiac-cortical effective connectivity during meditative states—as real-time feedback within an immersive virtual reality environment. Participants navigate a gamified landscape where environmental dynamics and musical soundtrack elements respond to their moment-to-moment heart-to-brain signaling, enabling live composition of personalized audiovisual experiences that track success. This inherently idiographic approach theoretically facilitates implicit cultivation of interoceptive awareness without explicit contemplative instruction, capitalizing on each participant's unique physiological response patterns.

The experimental design employs three conditions: personalized HEP-amplitude neurofeedback, demographically-matched sham feedback, and frontal midline theta active control—representing one of the current leading EEG neurofeedback signals for promoting meditative states. Primary outcomes encompass validated interoceptive measures and mindfulness-related capacities, with secondary analyses examining neurophysiological mediators and individual difference moderators.

This investigation represents the first implementation of personalized heart-brain dynamics as a neurophysiological feedback modality, challenging neuro-centric, reductionistic approaches by integrating peripheral physiology with central nervous system activity. If efficacious, this paradigm could democratize access to contemplative benefits through technologically-mediated, developmentally-appropriate interventions, potentially establishing protective factors against future psychopathological vulnerabilities during this neurobiologically plastic developmental period.

Broader Impact

By developing enhanced bodily awareness, the approach aims to equip adolescents with foundational tools to cultivate mindful responses to experiences rather than automatic reactions. If successful, this approach could equip adolescents with essential skills for emotional regulation, stress management, and overall well-being during critical developmental periods, all while having fun.