Why could meditation practice help promote mental health and well-being in aging?
Gaël Chételat, Antoine Lutz, Eider M. Arenaza‐Urquijo, Fabienne Collette, Olga Klimecki, Natalie L. Marchant
Alzheimer's Research & Therapy June 22, 2018 DOI: 10.1186/s13195-018-0388-5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Pilot study with cross-sectional comparison Randomized Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 73 |
| Population | Older adults (6 expert meditators and 67 age-matched controls) |
| Topics | Anxiety Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognition Insula Context archaeology Mental health Clinical psychology Affect linguistics Prefrontal cortex |
| Citations | 106 |
| Key findings | Long-term meditation practice may preserve brain structure and function from age-related decline, as indicated by higher gray matter volume and/or glucose metabolism in frontal and limbic structures and insula in expert meditators. |
Abstract
Psycho-affective states or traits such as stress, depression, anxiety and neuroticism are known to affect sleep, cognition and mental health and well-being in aging populations and to be associated with increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Mental training for stress reduction and emotional and attentional regulation through meditation practice might help reduce these adverse factors. So far, studies on the impact of meditation practice on brain and cognition in aging are scarce and have limitations but the findings are encouraging, showing a positive effect of meditation training on cognition, especially on attention and memory, and on brain structure and function especially in frontal and limbic structures and insula. In line with this, we showed in a pilot study that gray matter volume and/or glucose metabolism was higher in six older adult expert meditators compared to 67 age-matched controls in the prefrontal, anterior and posterior cingulate cortex, insula and temporo-parietal junction. These preliminary findings are important in the context of reserve and brain maintenance as they suggest that long-term meditation practice might help preserve brain structure and function from progressive age-related decline. Further studies are needed to confirm these results with larger samples and in randomized controlled trials and to investigate the mechanisms underlying these meditation-related effects. The European Commission-funded project Silver Santé Study will address these challenges by studying 316 older adults including 30 expert meditators and 286 meditation-naïve participants (either cognitively normal or with subjective cognitive decline). Two randomized controlled trials will be conducted to assess the effects of 2-month and 18-month meditation, English learning or health education training programs (versus a passive control) on behavioral, sleep, blood sampling and neuroimaging measures. This European research initiative illustrates the progressive awareness of the benefit of such non-pharmacological approaches in the prevention of dementia and the relevance of taking into account the psycho-affective dimension in endeavoring to improve mental health and well-being of older adults.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cited by 35
- Prevalence and 20-year trends in meditation, yoga, guided imagery and progressive relaxation use among US adults from 2002 to 2022 Scientific Reports July 1, 2024
- Effect of an 18-Month Meditation Training on Regional Brain Volume and Perfusion in Older Adults JAMA Neurology October 10, 2022
- Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention and a health self-management programme on psychological well-being in older adults with subjective cognitive decline: Secondary analyses from the SCD-Well randomised clinical trial. PLoS One 2023
- An 18-month meditation training selectively improves psychological well-being in older adults: A secondary analysis of a randomised controlled trial. PLoS One 2023
- Práctica de meditación por alumnos de primaria y secundaria en Perú: un estudio confirmatorio de salud y desempeño escolar Revista Innova Educación November 9, 2021
and 30 more in the library
Cites 9
- Reduced age-associated brain changes in expert meditators: a multimodal neuroimaging pilot study Scientific Reports August 25, 2017
- Can mindfulness-based interventions influence cognitive functioning in older adults? A review and considerations for future research. Aging & Mental Health November 2017
- Functional neuroanatomy of meditation: A review and meta-analysis of 78 functional neuroimaging investigations. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews March 21, 2016
- Meditation as a therapeutic intervention for adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease - potential benefits and underlying mechanisms. Frontiers in Psychiatry April 23, 2014
- Exploring age-related brain degeneration in meditation practitioners. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences January 2014
and 4 more in the library