Cereset Research for Caregivers

Summary

Caregivers experience high levels of prolonged stress that can lead to chronic problems with health, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease that is linked to autonomic dysregulation. Heart rate variability (HRV), measures of autonomic cardiovascular regulation, is decreased (worse) in caregivers. Autonomic function is linked to lateralization in the brain, and emerging neuromodulation methods that target lateralized signals in the brain, like Cereset (CR), may be able to improve heart rate variability. Therefore, this pilot study aims to test whether CR can improve HRV in caregivers of a person living with dementia experiencing stress, anxiety, or insomnia, as well as improve self-report measures of stress, sleep and caregiver burden.

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

* Participants must provide caregiving at least 10 hours per week. This includes all types of caregiving
* participants must be willing to provide informed consent
* participants must be able to comply with basic instructions
* participants must be able to sit comfortably for up to 90 minutes, and attend up to three 60-minute intervention sessions each week during the 4-week intervention period
* participants must self report experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety, or insomnia and meet threshold scores on one or more self-report inventories of these symptoms (Insomnia Severity Index (ISI, ≥ 8), the Perceived Stress Index (PSS, ≥ 14), or the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7, ≥ 5) scale)

Exclusion criteria:

* participants providing less than 10 hours a week of care to a person
* participants who are unable or unwilling to attend intervention sessions during the planned study period
* participants who are unable or unwilling to provide consent
* participants who are not exhibiting symptoms of stress, anxiety or insomnia
* participants with hearing impairment severe enough that they cannot perceive tones through ear buds
* participants with known seizure disorder, or suicidal thoughts within the last 3 months
* participants who respond positively to a question about risk for suicide within the last 3 months will be excluded and receive a behavioral health resource list
* participants weighing more than 400 pounds (the weight limit of the chair used during intervention)
* participants currently enrolled in another intervention study
* prior use (past 3 years) of the technology being tested
* prior use of neuromodulation, neurostimulation, deep brain stimulation, neurofeedback, biofeedback, alpha stim, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR),or electroconvulsive therapy within the last month
* Pace makers and beta blockers that affect the assessment of heart rate variability will also be exclusionary
* participants taking Medications that may affect the assessment of heart rate variability (beta blockers.

Conditions4

Locations1 site

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