Mindfulness meditation may improve neurovascular health in older adults through three potential mechanisms: directly increasing resting-state cerebral blood flow, indirectly reducing neuroinflammation via stronger default-mode network connectivity, and a top-down control pathway that combines both direct and indirect effects. This review first examines resting-state fMRI studies in older adults, then uses those findings to interpret task-based fMRI studies in clinical and healthy adult samples. The proposed mechanisms offer a framework for understanding how mindfulness could counteract age-related neurovascular decline.
A randomized controlled trial tested whether mindfulness training improves performance monitoring in healthy older adults, a cognitive function that typically declines with age. Using event-related potentials, the study found that mindfulness participants showed an increased error-related negativity (ERN) response compared to an active control group, but no change in error positivity (Pe). Both groups reported reduced anxiety and less self-judgment of their mental functioning, suggesting subjective benefits from both interventions. The findings support the idea that mindfulness enhances self-regulatory processes, such as learning to respond rather than react, and demonstrate that such effects can be achieved in older adults.