Self Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Mindfulness-based Meditation for Pain in Older Adults With Knee Osteoarthritis

tDCS with a constant current intensity of 2 milliamps (mA) will be applied for 20 minutes per session daily for 2 weeks (Monday to Friday) via the Soterix 1x1 tDCS mini-CT Stimulator device (Soterix Medical Inc., New York; 6.5 inches long, 3 inches wide, 0.7 inches thick) with headgear and 5x7 cm saline-soaked surface sponge electrodes.

The meditation intervention will be delivered by a recorded device that participants will be given together with the tDCS. All meditation instruction recordings will be done by an experienced mind-body intervention specialist and installed in a user-friendly MP3 player.

For sham stimulation, the electrodes will be placed in the same positions as for active stimulation, but the stimulator will only deliver 2 mA current for 30 seconds.

For sham meditation, the participants will be instructed, approximately every 2-3 minutes, to take deep breaths as we sit in meditation. Time spent giving instructions in the sham meditation intervention will be matched to time spent in the mindfulness intervention.