Effects of long-term mindfulness meditation on brain's white matter microstructure and its aging.
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience January 15, 2016 Davide eLaneri, Verena eSchuster, Bruno eDietsche et al.
Mindfulness meditation may alter white matter microstructure and help reduce age-related white matter degeneration in brain regions linked to mindfulness. Diffusion tensor imaging scans of 64 meditators and non-meditators showed group differences and a group-by-age interaction in white matter adjacent to the thalamus, insula, amygdala, hippocampus, and anterior cingulate cortex. The findings offer preliminary evidence that mindfulness practice could affect white matter connectivity and potentially counteract age-related decline in key brain areas.