Grand Rounds: Osher Pilots Relay - Promoting Healthy Brains; Measuring Emotions; Exploring Stress Physiology

Event Details

Title: “Osher Pilots Relay – Promoting Healthy Brains; Measuring Emotions; Exploring Stress Physiology”
Date: Tuesday, September 5th @ 8:00am US ET.
Format: Virtual US ET via Zoom.
Cost: Free to attend.
CME credit available. Email your name, degree title and institution to [email protected] on joining the webinar to claim credit.

Presenters:

Ryan Mace, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Massachusetts General Hospital
My Healthy Brain: A Novel Mind-Body Program for Promoting Brain Health through Lifestyle Change

Michael Goldstein, PhD
Co-Director, Behavioral Sleep Clinic, Department of Psychiatry
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Examining the Interactive Effects of Mindfulness and Slow-Paced Breathing on Stress Physiology

Abigail Batchelder, PhD
Assistant Director of the Behavioral Medicine Program, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital
Non-Verbal Measurement of Negative Self-Conscious Emotion

Presentation Descriptions

My Healthy Brain: A Novel Mind-Body Program for Promoting Brain Health through Lifestyle Change
Ryan Mace, PhD
We are iteratively developing the My Healthy Brain (MHB) group dementia prevention program. MHB integrates mindfulness and behavioral strategies to help older adults create and sustain lifestyles (e.g., exercise, sleep, and diet) that may prevent dementia and memory loss with aging. With Osher Center funding, we conducted a virtual pilot of MHB in older adults with subjective cognitive decline (N=10). MHB showed excellent feasibility, acceptability, and improvements in cognitive and lifestyle outcomes. The results support moving to the next stage, a feasibility randomized controlled trial, comparing MHB to an education control, as preparation for efficacy testing and future implementation.

Examining the interactive effects of mindfulness and slow-paced breathing on stress physiology.
Michael Goldstein, PhD
Despite the growing research base examining the benefits and physiological mechanisms of slow-paced breathing (SPB), mindfulness (M), and their combination (as yogic breathing, SPB+M), previous research has not directly compared these in a ‘dismantling’ framework. To address this gap, we conducted a fully remote three-armed feasibility study with wearable devices and video-based laboratory visits. Eighteen healthy participants (age 18-30 years, 12 female) were randomized to one of three 8-week interventions: slow-paced breathing (SPB, N=5), mindfulness (M, N=6), or yogic breathing (SPB+M, N=7). Participants began a 24-hour heart rate recording with chest-worn device prior to the first virtual laboratory visit, consisting of a 60-min intervention-specific training with guided practice and experimental stress induction using a Stroop test. Participants were then instructed to repeat their assigned intervention practice daily with a guided audio, while concurrently recording heart rate data and completing a detailed practice log.  Feasibility was determined using rates of overall study completion (100%), daily practice adherence (73%), and rate of fully analyzable data from virtual laboratory visits (92%). These results demonstrate feasibility for conducting larger trial studies with a similar fully remote framework, enhancing the ecological validity and sample size that could be possible with such research designs.

Non-Verbal Measurement of Negative Self-Conscious Emotion
Abigail Batchelder, PhD
Negative self-conscious emotions, such as shame, are associated with avoidance of stigmatized health- behaviors (e.g., taking HIV medication). However, reporting bias and variations in emotional presentations make assessment and related intervention development challenging. We piloted and are now examining multimodal assessment of shame using postural movement, facial movement, autonomic stress response, vocal characteristics, narrative content, and self-reported emotion in response to an emotion-evoking narrative induction task among a sample of people living with HIV (n=30). In addition to testing the feasibility and acceptability of these methods, we are exploring machine learning strategies to assess the covariance of the collected data to inform future emotion assessment and intervention strategies.

Speaker Biographies

Ryan Mace, PhD is a clinical health psychologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Health Outcomes and Interdisciplinary Research (CHOIR). His clinical research focuses on the integration of mindfulness, lifestyle behaviors, and technology to promote brain health in aging and medical populations. He is iteratively developing a novel group-based lifestyle program (My Healthy Brain) for older adults with dementia risk factors.

With an Osher Center for Integrative Medicine Pilot Grant, he conducted patient focus groups and a virtual feasibility pilot to enhance My Healthy Brain by incorporating mindfulness training, using technology (ActiGraphs, smartphones) to reinforce behaviors, and live video delivery. He was awarded an NIA K23 Career Development Award to further refine My Healthy Brain (Stage 1B) prior to efficacy testing through early attention to implementation. Additionally, Dr. Mace is a Co-Investigator on two NIH-funded R01 trials investigating integrative approaches (mind-body and activity, peer support) for at-risk aging populations (low-income with depression, comorbid cognitive decline and chronic pain). To date, he has published 60 peer-reviewed articles (17 first author) in high-impact journals (JAMA Network Open, NEJM Catalyst, Translational Behavioral Medicine).

In addition to research, Dr. Mace has extensive training in delivering evidence-based integrative and mind-body therapies to individuals, dyads, and groups across the health–illness spectrum. As a researcher, clinician, and supervisor, Dr. Mace’s mission is to redefine brain health, such that the promotion of health and well-being becomes a priority across the lifespan through the integration of mind, brain, body, behaviors, and spirituality.

Michael Goldstein, PhD is Co-Director of the behavioral sleep clinic in the Department of Psychiatry and Research Associate in the Department of Neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Goldstein received his doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Arizona, completed his clinical internship at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, and completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at BIDMC and Harvard Medical School, obtaining Certificates in Clinical Effectiveness and Sleep Medicine. He has been a Licensed Psychologist in Massachusetts since 2020.

Alongside his current roles at BIDMC/HMS, Dr. Goldstein is a full-time private practice clinician with Cambridge Psychology Group, where he specializes in sleep and circadian rhythms, depression, anxiety, managing chronic health conditions, work-related stress, and life-stage transitions. When helpful, he integrates mindfulness, breathing-based practices, and technology such as mobile apps and wearable devices to carefully tailor each individual’s treatment plan and boost motivation for behavior change. He previously served as Clinical Director for the BIDMC Division of Digital Psychiatry.

Dr. Goldstein has published over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters on sleep, depression, stress and resilience, EEG, heart rate variability, and mind-body interventions. He continues to serve as a collaborator for clinical trial studies on sleep interventions, and serves as a guest editor for the Frontiers in Sleep Research Topic ‘Improving Behavioral Sleep Intervention Outcomes’. His work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Prevention.com, Today.com, Oprah quarterly magazine, and other media outlets.

Abigail (Abby) Batchelder, Ph.D., M.P.H. is a clinical psychologist and researcher. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard School of Medicine (HMS); staff psychologist and Assistant Director of the Behavioral Medicine Program, through which she leads the substance use and stigma research program, in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She is also an Affiliated Investigator at The Fenway Institute. Additionally, Dr. Batchelder is the Director of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (HU CFAR) Substance Use Scientific Worker Group and Interim Director of the Community Engaged Research Program for the HU CFAR. Her research focuses on collaborating with communities impacted by substance use, HIV, and minority stress to develop, refine, and implement interventions to overcome psychological, behavioral, and structural barriers to psycho-behavioral treatment among minoritized people (e.g., sexual, gender, and racial minorities).

Dr. Batchelder has received 14 grants as principal investigator (PI), including NIH-supported grants. She was the recipient of a NIDA K23, and currently leads a NIDA R34 to develop, refine, and assess stigma-focused intervention for people living with HIV who inject drugs, and a NIDA R01 to test the efficacy of a self-compassion-focused intervention among sexual and gender minority people living with HIV and active substance use disorders. She also receives funding from SAMHSA, the Fenway Institute, and the HU CFAR to conduct projects related to aging with HIV, sexual minority women engaging in hazardous drinking, and implementation science efforts to increase psycho-behavioral health capacity at community-based organizations. To date, she has 77 peer-reviewed articles and chapters (24 as first-author, 11 as senior-author). Her work has been published in high impact journals, such as Journal of General Internal Medicine, Journal of Addiction Medicine, The Lancet Diabetes-Endocrinology, LGBT Health, and Social Science and Medicine. Dr. Batchelder is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine and is an Editorial Board Member for LGBT Heath, as well as an ad hoc reviewer for 16 additional journals. Dr. Batchelder was also the recipient of the Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award at MGH in 2021 and the Ken Mayer Fellowship for early to mid-career investigators through the Fenway Institute in 2023.