Heartrate and Breathing Effects on Attention and Memory

Open to people ages 50-70

• speak English fluently
• between the age of 50-70
• healthy adult who weighs at least 110 pounds
• non-pregnant and non-menstruating (for at least the past year)
• normal or corrected-to-normal vision and hearing
• have a home computer with a physical keyboard and have access to reliable internet
• have an email account that you check regularly
• have a phone that receives text messages
• willing to provide a blood sample and a urine sample at three lab visits
• willing to devote up to 60 minutes daily to the study for 12 weeks (in addition to lab visits)

• have a disorder that would impede performing the breathing intervention (e.g., abnormal cardiac rhythm, heart disease including coronary artery disease, angina, and arrhythmia, cognitive impairment, dyspnea)
• regularly practicing any relaxation, biofeedback, or breathing technique (e.g., meditation) for more than an hour a week
• regularly played Lumosity games in the past 6 months
• participated in heart rate biofeedback studies in the USC Emotion & Cognition Lab
• have any conditions listed below that are not safe for MRI
  • Claustrophobia
  • Have worked as a machinist, metal worker, or in any profession or hobby grinding metal?
  • Have had an injury to the eye involving a metallic object (e.g., metallic slivers, shavings, or foreign body)
  • Cardiac pacemaker
  • Implanted cardiac defibrillator
  • Aneurysm clip or brain clip
  • Carotid artery vascular clamp
  • Neurostimulator
  • Insulin or infusion pump
  • Spinal fusion stimulator
  • Cochlear, otologic, ear tubes or ear implant
  • Prosthesis (eye/orbital, penile, etc.)
  • Implant held in place by a magnet
  • Heart valve prosthesis
  • Artificial limb or joint
  • Other implants in body or head
  • Electrodes (on body, head or brain)
  • Intravascular stents, filters
  • Shunt (spinal or intraventricular)
  • Vascular access port or catheters
  • IUD
  • Transdermal delivery system or other types of foil patches (e.g., Nitro, Nicotine, Birth control, etc.) that cannot be removed for MRI
  • Shrapnel, buckshot, or bullets
  • Tattooed eyeliner or eyebrows
  • Body piercing(s) that cannot be removed for MRI
  • Metal fragments (eye, head, ear, skin)
  • Internal pacing wires
  • Aortic clips
  • Metal or wire mesh implants
  • Wire sutures or surgical staples
  • Harrington rods (spine)
  • Bone/joint pin, screw, nail, wire, plate
  • Wig or toupee that cannot be removed for MRI
  • Hair implants that involve staples or metal
  • Hearing aid(s) that cannot be removed for MRI
  • Dentures or retainers that cannot be removed for MRI