After eight weeks of meditation training, healthy older adults rated both positive and negative affective images as more neutral, indicating a change in valence perception. This behavioral shift was linked to structural enlargements in a prefrontal network including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, inferior frontal sulcus, and inferior frontal junction. An active control group that completed relaxation training showed no such brain changes. A path analysis suggests meditation may trigger a series of prefrontal neuroplastic changes related to how emotional valence is processed. These findings point to meditation as a potential intervention to promote healthy aging by counteracting affective dysregulations common in older people.
Affective dysregulation—impaired control over emotions—underlies many mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and stress-related disorders. This dysregulation often involves weakened top-down cognitive control from the prefrontal cortex over subcortical emotional processing. Long-term meditation practice can induce neuroplastic changes in brain regions supporting cognitive control and emotional regulation, suggesting meditation may serve as a cost-effective intervention for mood disorders. The review examines concepts of affective regulation and meditation, discusses behavioral and neural evidence for meditation's clinical potential, and notes promising results from incorporating mindfulness into psychotherapy. Future research could explore integrating compassion into therapeutic approaches.