Possible Anti-Aging and Anti-Stress Effects of Long-Term Transcendental Meditation Practice: Differences in Gene Expression, EEG Correlates of Cognitive Function, and Hair Steroids.
Supaya Wenuganen, Kenneth G Walton, Frederick Travis, Tobias Stalder, R Keith Wallace, Meera Srivastava, John Fagan
Biomolecules February 20, 2025 DOI: 10.3390/biom15030317 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 89 |
| Population | Long-term Transcendental Meditation practitioners and non-meditator controls |
| Intervention | Transcendental Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Allostatic load Cognitive function Cortisol Human gene expression Public health Stress reduction |
| Citations | 2 |
| Key findings | Long-term TM practitioners show lower expression of aging-related genes, better cognitive function markers, and lower hair cortisol levels compared to age-matched non-meditators. |
Abstract
Background: Our previous comparison of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from long-term Transcendental Meditation® (TM®) practitioners and matched non-practitioner controls found 200 differentially expressed (DE) genes. Bioinformatics analyses of these DE genes suggested a reduced risk of diseases associated with stress and aging in the TM group. Here we assessed additional signs of reduced stress and aging.
Methods: A sample of 15 of the 200 DE genes was studied using qPCR in PBMCs from 40-year TM practitioners ("Old TM", n = 23) compared to a "Young Control" group (n = 19) and an "Old Control" group (n = 21) of non-meditators. In these three groups, plus a "Young TM", 12-year practitioner group (n = 26), we also studied EEG-based parameters of cognitive function (the Brain Integration Scale (BIS), and latency of three components of the event-related potential (ERP)). Finally, using LC/MS/MS, we compared persistent levels of cortisol (F) and its inactive congener, cortisone (E), in hair.
Results: qPCR analysis showed that 13 of the 15 genes were more highly expressed in Old Controls than in Young Controls. In the Old TM group, 7 of these 13 were lower than in Old Controls. Both TM groups had higher BIS scores than their age-matched controls. The Old TM group had shorter N2, P3a, and P3b latencies than the Old Control group, and latencies in the Old TM group were not longer than in the Young Control group. The Hair F/Hair E ratio was higher in the control subgroups than in their age-matched TM subgroups, and Hair F was higher in the Young Control and combined control groups than in the Young TM and combined TM groups.
Conclusions: These results are consistent with reductions in biomarkers of chronic stress and biological age in long-term TM meditators. They are also consistent with results from the previous study suggesting that TM practice lowers energy consumption or leads to more efficient energy metabolism.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cites 17
- Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Psychoneuroendocrinology June 1, 2011
- Effects of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Transcendental Meditation on Components of the Metabolic Syndrome in Subjects With Coronary Heart Disease Archives of Internal Medicine June 12, 2006
- Blood Pressure Response to Transcendental Meditation: A Meta-analysis American Journal of Hypertension February 29, 2008
- Stress Reduction and Preventing Hypertension: Preliminary Support for a Psychoneuroendocrine Mechanism The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine June 1, 1995
- Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in Adolescents and Adults through the Transcendental Meditation® Program: A Research Review Update Current Hypertension Reviews October 1, 2012
and 12 more in the library