Meditation and successful aging: can meditative practices counteract age-related cognitive decline?
Marco Sperduti, Dominique Makowski, Philippe Blondé, Pascale Piolino
Geriatrie et psychologie neuropsychiatrie du vieillissement June 1, 2017 DOI: 10.1684/pnv.2017.0672 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Aging Attention Cognition |
| Key findings | The authors contend that meditation may help counter age-related cognitive decline, since it has enhanced attention and executive functions in young adults, and the limited studies in older adults report encouraging effects on attention, executive functions, and memory. They caution, however, that methodological limitations make it difficult to establish causality or generalize these results, and they propose a roadmap for future research. |
Abstract
Life expectancy is constantly increasing in the developed countries due to medical, hygiene and socio-economic advances. Unfortunately, a longer life not always corresponds to a healthier life. Indeed, aging is associated with growing risk factors for illness associated with societal conditions (isolation, maltreatment), and neurodegenerative diseases. Even normal aging is associated with a cognitive decline that can hinder independence and quality of life of elderly. Thus, one major societal challenge is to build policies that support people of all ages to maintain a maximum health and functional capacity throughout their lives. Meditation could be a promising intervention in contrasting the negative effects of aging. Indeed, it has been shown to enhance cognitive efficiency in several domains, such as attention and executive functions in young adults. Nevertheless, whether these effects extend to old participants is still a matter of debate. Few studies have directly investigated this issue, reporting encouraging results in a large panel of cognitive functions, such as: attention, executive functions and memory. However, a final conclusion about the causal role of meditation and the generalization of these results is made difficult due to several methodological limitations. We propose a roadmap for future studies to pass these limitations with the hope that the present work would contribute to the development of the young research field of meditation in gerontology.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cited by 7
- Meditation and Cognitive Outcomes: A Longitudinal Analysis Using Data From the Health and Retirement Study 2000-2016. Mindfulness July 1, 2023
- Effects of an 18-month meditation training on dynamic functional connectivity states in older adults: Secondary analyses from the Age-Well randomized controlled trial Imaging Neuroscience 2025
- Distinct Neurochemical Signature of Mindfulness and Progressive Muscle Relaxation in limbic regions: a randomized controlled MR spectroscopy study Research Square November 13, 2025
- Mining the Mind: Linear Discriminant Analysis of MEG Source Reconstruction Time Series Supports Dynamic Changes in Deep Brain Regions During Meditation Sessions. Brain Topography October 15, 2021
- Mindfulness related changes in grey matter: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain Imaging and Behavior October 1, 2021
and 2 more in the library