 5. Moreover, seniors who have suffered a fall report reductions in their quality of life 6. A systematic review by Scheffer et al. 4 has identified the major outcomes of FOF to be reductions in physical and mental health, quality of life and an increased risk of fall. Older adults suffering symptoms of depression are also more likely to have a severe FOF, leading to activity restriction in this group 7, 8. As such, minimizing the risk of falls in older populations has important implications for the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals in this cohort. Among the risk factors that increase the likelihood of seniors suffering a fall are gait impairments 9 and depression 10--12. Indeed, measures of gait can be used to predict future falls 13 while increases in depressive symptoms are associated with increases in fall rate 10. An association has been established between depression and gait deficits, even when confounding variables such as socio--demographic and overall health status are controlled; specifically, depression is associated with reductions in various gait parameters including gait velocity, stride length and swing time variability 14, 15. At present, antidepressants are the first line of treatment for depression, however in seniors the response rate to an antidepressant trial of adequate dose and duration is often inadequate and can be as low as 30-- 40 16. In addition, antidepressant use is often associated with a number of adverse events including increased fall risk 11 and impairments in gait 17, 18. For example, in healthy seniors, a single dose of amitriptyline led to gait impairments when subjects were required to walk in the presence of obstructions 17. Therefore the relationship between depression, gait, and fall risk is further complicated by standard pharmacological treatment practices for this population. In recent years, various non--pharmacological interventions have been embraced by patients with late life depression LLD. Loosely defined as mind--body therapies, these include biofeedback, energy healing, meditation, guided imagery, and yoga 19, 20. Amongst these practices, meditation therapy may be of particular benefit for older adults with gait impairments and LLD; meditation is non--invasive, easy to learn, has negligible side effects, can be practiced from anywhere and has been shown to have multi--organ benefits see 21 for a review. Whilst relatively few studies have examined the effects of meditation on gait, a study of mindfulness--based cognitive therapy MBCT found the therapy normalized gait patterns in adults with a history of depression 22. Additionally, a particular type of meditation, referred to as automatic self--transcending meditation ASTM has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression 23. Currently, our research team is commencing the data collection phase of an REB approved study that has received funding by the Academic Medical Organization of Southwestern Ontario AMOSO Innovation Fund. This study is a single blind longitudinal naturalistic randomized control trial targeting individuals with late--life depression, and will examine the effects of ASTM on autonomic and mood--related symptoms of depression. In the framework of the ASTM study there is an opportunity to more closely examine the relationship between gait and depression in elderly populations, as well as the potential benefits of this mind--body therapy on gait and FOF. We are kindly requesting funding from the Department of Psychiatry to carry out this investigation. Specifically, we aim to assess gait parameters such as stride length and gait velocity, which have been shown to be affected by depression 14, 15, in LLD patients receiving ASTM training in addition to their current treatment schedules ASTM group as well as those that continue with their treatment as usual TAU group. A thorough literature and clinical trial registry search reveals that no one has previously, or is currently, examining the effects of ASTM training on parameters of gait in LLD patients. 