Decoding meditation mechanisms underlying brain preservation and psycho-affective health in older expert meditators and older meditation-naive participants.
Sacha Haudry, Anne-Laure Turpin, Brigitte Landeau, Florence Mezenge, Marion Delarue, Oriane Hébert, Natalie L. Marchant, Olga Klimecki, Fabienne Collette, Julie Gonneaud, Vincent de la Sayette, Denis Vivien, Antoine Lutz, Gaël Chételat, Florence Allais, Claire André, Eider M. Arenaza‐Urquijo, Sebastian Baez-Lugo, Alexandre Bejanin, Maelle Botton, Pierre Champetier, Léa Chauveau, Gaël Chételat, Anne Chocat, Fabienne Collette, Sophie Dautricourt, Robin de Florès, Marion Delarue, Harriet Demnitz-King, Stéphanie Egret, Rawda El Sadawy, Hélène Espérou, Séverine Fauvel, Francesca Felisatti, Victor Ferment, Eglantine Ferrand Devouge, Eric Frison, Julie Gonneaud, Anaïs Hamel, Sacha Haudry, Oriane Hébert, Marc Heidmann, Elizabeth Kuhn, Olga Klimecki, Brigitte Landeau, Gwendoline Ledu, Valérie Lefranc, Antoine Lutz, Florence Mezenge, Inès Moulinet, Valentin Ourry, Cassandre Palix, Léo Paly, Géraldine Poisnel, Anne Quillard, Géraldine Rauchs, Stéphane Rehel, Florence Requier, Eric Salmon, Rhonda Smith, Clémence Tomadesso, Edelweiss Touron, Anne-Laure Turpin, Patrik Vuilleumier, Tim Whitfield, Miranka Wirth
Scientific Reports November 27, 2024 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-79687-3 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 162 |
| Population | Older expert meditators and meditation-naive older controls |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Brain Humans Magnetic resonance imaging Mental health Attention Middle aged Female |
| Citations | 3 |
| Key findings | Meditators had higher fronto-parietal volume and temporo-occipito-parietal perfusion, plus higher positive and lower negative psycho-affective scores than controls. Attentional and constructive mechanisms mediated links between brain differences and positive scores, while the deconstructive mechanism mediated links with negative scores. The authors state these results corroborate the Medit-Ageing model. |
Abstract
Meditation is a mental training approach that can improve mental health and well-being in aging. Yet the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The Medit-Ageing model stipulates that three mechanisms - attentional, constructive, and deconstructive - upregulate positive psycho-affective factors and downregulate negative ones. To test this hypothesis, we measured brain structural MRI and perfusion, negative and positive psycho-affective composite scores, and meditation mechanisms in 27 older expert meditators and 135 meditation-naive older controls. We identified brain and psycho-affective differences and performed mediation analyses to assess whether and which meditation mechanisms mediate their links.Meditators showed significantly higher volume in fronto-parietal areas and perfusion in temporo-occipito-parietal areas. They also had higher positive and lower negative psycho-affective scores. Attentional and constructive mechanisms both mediated the links between brain differences and the positive psycho-affective score whereas the deconstructive mechanism mediated the links between brain differences and the negative psycho-affective score.Our results corroborate the Medit-Ageing model, indicating that, in aging, meditation leads to brain changes that decrease negative psycho-affective factors and increase positive ones through relatively specific mechanisms. Shedding light on the neurobiological and psycho-affective mechanisms of meditation in aging, these findings provide insights to refine future interventions.
Comparable studies
Other cross-sectional and survey studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construct Validity of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in Meditating and Nonmeditating Samples Experienced meditators and nonmeditating comparison groups | 2008 | Cross-sectional study | |
| Neural Correlates of Dispositional Mindfulness During Affect Labeling Adult participants | 2007 | Observational cross-sectional | n = 27 |
| Assessing mindfulness in children and adolescents: Development and validation of the Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM). School-aged children and adolescents | 2011 | Cross-sectional validation study | n = 1,413 |
| Mindfulness and self-compassion as predictors of psychological wellbeing in long-term meditators and matched nonmeditators Experienced meditators and demographically matched nonmeditators | 2012 | Cross-sectional study | n = 152 |
| Mechanisms of Action in the Inverse Relationship Between Mindfulness and Psychological Distress Undergraduates | 2008 | Cross-sectional, correlational |
Citations in the library
Cites 24
- 20 years of the default mode network: A review and synthesis Neuron May 10, 2023
- Investigation of mindfulness meditation practitioners with voxel-based morphometry Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience December 3, 2007
- The Age‐Well randomized controlled trial of the Medit‐Ageing European project: Effect of meditation or foreign language training on brain and mental health in older adults Alzheimer's & Dementia 2018
- Reduced age-associated brain changes in expert meditators: a multimodal neuroimaging pilot study Scientific Reports August 25, 2017
- Quality of Life and Functional Health Status of Long-Term Meditators Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2012
and 19 more in the library