Impact of Long-Term Shaolin Zen Meditation on Emotional Processing in Aging: A Visual ERP Study.
Huang Gu, Tiantian Liang, Zhaoyang Xin, Zilu Lu, Qiaoling Li, Hao Hong
Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) June 19, 2023 DOI: 10.3390/bs13060513 (opens in new tab) via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractLong-term Shaolin Zen meditation practice may counteract age-related decline in the automatic processing of emotional stimuli. Event-related potentials were recorded from 16 monks with long-term meditation experience and 20 controls without meditation experience during a facial emotion recognition task. Age-related degenerative changes in early ERP components were absent in the meditators but present in the controls. No group differences were found in the late P3 component, suggesting the protective effect is on early, automatic processing rather than later, controlled processing.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 36 |
| Population | Monks with long-term Shaolin Zen meditation experience and controls without meditation experience |
| Keywords | Erp Shaolin zen meditation Aging Cognition Emotion |
| Key finding | Age-related degenerative changes in early ERP components were absent in long-term Shaolin Zen meditators but present in controls, suggesting meditation counteracts age-related decline in automatic emotional processing. |
Abstract
The aging process is always accompanied by a decline in cognitive and emotional functions. Although previous studies have identified the positive effects of different meditative practices on emotional and cognitive functions, few studies have investigated the most primitive Chinese meditation-Shaolin Zen meditation. In particular, data are extremely limited regarding the brain mechanism of the effects of Shaolin Zen meditation on cognitive and emotional functions during aging. The current study aimed to explore the effects of long-term Shaolin Zen meditation practice on event-related potentials (ERPs) during facial emotion recognition in aging. ERPs were recorded from 16 monks with long-term meditation experience and 20 controls without meditation experience. The significant age-related degenerative changes in the early ERP components did not present in the meditators but only in the controls without meditation experience. Additionally, we found no group differences in the late P3 component. These findings suggest that long-term Shaolin Zen meditation practice can counteract the age-related cognitive decline in the "down-top" automatic processing of emotional stimuli.