Active Young, Healthy Mind. The YoungFitT Project

ConditionUniversity Students

Trial statusRecruiting

Trial phaseNot applicable

Trial typeInterventional

Biological sexAll

Age18-25

SponsorUniversity of Barcelona

About this trial

The main objective of YoungFitT Project is to study the effect and neuro-psycho-biological mechanisms of mind and body interventions, also in the form of virtual reality (VR), on brain health, cognitive and psychological well-being of college students. The investigators have adopted an inter and multidisciplinary and multimodal approach to provide a more integrative perspective using cognitive, psychological, biochemical, and neuroimaging measurements. The investigators hypothesize that all three interventions Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Qigong, and High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) will produce gains in cognitive functions and psychological well-being at three months compared to baseline. Also, all three interventions will induce changes in the microbiota and brain structure and function. Finally, using a VR environment for these interventions will provide greater adherence and cognitive and psychological well-being benefits than conventional training.

Eligibility criteria

This trial accepts healthy volunteers

Qualifiers

Individuals aged 18-25 years old

Fluency in Catalan or Spanish (I.e., able to understand and speak)

Accept to take part in the study and sign the informed consent according to the Declaration of Helsinki.

Disqualifiers

Severe Neurological or psychiatric history

Alcohol or drug abuse history

Injury that prevents exercise

Claustrophobia

Trial design

Design model

Parallel

Treatments tested in this trial

High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT)
Behavioral
This intervention will include three sessions per week: two group 60-minute zoom online synchronous sessions guided by experts and one individual autonomous session (a repetition of a chosen session of that week). The training protocol will be designed based on Cross-Training workouts, emphasizing high-intensity interval training combined with functional resistance-training movements.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR)
Behavioral
This intervention follows the official MBSR program designed by Jon Kabat-Zinn with some adaptations, as we did in Bermudo-Gallaguet, et al. (2022). The intervention will occur three days a week, including one 120-minute online synchronous session and two 20-40 min individual practices. The intensity of physical exercise will be adjusted to personal baseline characteristics.
Qigong
Behavioral
This intervention will include three sessions per week: two group 60-minute zoom online synchronous sessions guided by experts and one individual autonomous session (a repetition of a chosen session of that week). The program includes the Baduanjin sequence, considered one of the most ancient and beneficial forms for physical and mental health within the Qigong tradition.

Treatment groups

219 Participants

are divided into 3 treatment groups

Group A: High-Intensity Functional Training (HIFT) GroupExperimental treatment 1 intervention

Group B: Mindfulness GroupExperimental treatment 1 intervention

Group C: Qigong GroupExperimental treatment 1 intervention

Trial outcomes

Primary outcomes

Changes in immediate verbal attention

Direct Digit Span, subtest from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - Third Edition (WAIS-III). Span. Direct score. Range 0-9. Higher scores indicate better performance.

Time frame