Focused attention (FA) meditation reduces regurgitant cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow through the cerebral aqueduct and increases low-frequency CSF fluctuations near the skull base, directionally opposite to patterns seen in aging and neurodegeneration and similar to sleep-related CSF dynamics. In 23 adept meditators, absolute aqueduct CSF flow decreased from 4.60±2.27 mL/min during mind wandering to 4.17±2.10 mL/min during FA meditation, driven by reduced cranially-directed regurgitant velocity. No changes occurred in meditation-naïve control groups. The findings suggest mindfulness meditation may be a non-pharmacological waking state that modulates neurofluid circulation in a manner consistent with sleep and contrary to aging-related decline.
Mindfulness meditation may alter the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain in a way that resembles sleep and counters age-related changes. Using MRI, researchers measured CSF movement through the cerebral aqueduct and fluctuations near the cervicomedullary junction in meditation-naïve adults and adept meditators. During focused attention meditation, adept meditators showed decreased absolute CSF flow (from 4.60 to 4.17 mL/min) due to reduced backward flow, along with increased low-frequency CSF fluctuations that inversely correlated with gray matter fluctuations. No changes were seen in control groups. The findings suggest meditation could be a waking state that modulates neurofluid dynamics similarly to sleep and opposite to aging.