Greater Cortical Thickness in Elderly Female Yoga Practitioners-A Cross-Sectional Study.
Rui F. Afonso, Joana B Balardin, Sara W. Lazar, João R. Sato, Nadja Igarashi, Danilo F. Santaella, Shirley S Lacerda, Edson Amaro, Elisa H. Kozasa
Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 2017 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2017.00201 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 42 |
| Population | Older women: 21 long-term hatha yoga practitioners (at least 8 years) and 21 age-matched women naive to yoga, meditation, or mind-body interventions |
| Intervention | Hatha yoga |
| Duration | At least 8 years of yoga practice |
| Measures | cortical thickness (CT), T1-weighted MPRAGE MRI |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | MRI Aging Cortical thickness Prefrontal cortex Yoga |
| Key findings | Long-term hatha yoga practitioners showed significantly greater cortical thickness in a left prefrontal cluster including portions of the lateral middle frontal gyrus, anterior superior frontal gyrus, and dorsal superior frontal gyrus compared with matched non-practitioners. The authors suggest this structural difference is consistent with yoga's association with brain regions supporting awareness, attention, executive functions, and memory, while noting the cross-sectional design. |
Abstract
Yoga, a mind-body activity that requires attentional engagement, has been associated with positive changes in brain structure and function, especially in areas related to awareness, attention, executive functions and memory. Normal aging, on the other hand, has also been associated with structural and functional brain changes, but these generally involve decreased cognitive functions. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare brain cortical thickness (CT) in elderly yoga practitioners and a group of age-matched healthy non-practitioners. We tested 21 older women who had practiced hatha yoga for at least 8 years and 21 women naive to yoga, meditation or any mind-body interventions who were matched to the first group in age, years of formal education and physical activity level. A T1-weighted MPRAGE sequence was acquired for each participant. Yoga practitioners showed significantly greater CT in a left prefrontal lobe cluster, which included portions of the lateral middle frontal gyrus, anterior superior frontal gyrus and dorsal superior frontal gyrus. We found greater CT in the left prefrontal cortex of healthy elderly women who trained yoga for a minimum of 8 years compared with women in the control group.
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
Cited by 10
- What Has Neuroimaging Taught Us on the Neurobiology of Yoga? A Review Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience July 8, 2020
- Greater Anteroposterior Default Mode Network Functional Connectivity in Long-Term Elderly Yoga Practitioners Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience July 2, 2019
- Dynamic and Static Models of Body-Mind Approaches from Neurobiological Perspectives IntechOpen eBooks February 7, 2019
- Neuroimaging evaluation of the long term impact of a novel paired meditation practice on brain function Frontiers in Neuroimaging June 10, 2024
- Effect of mobile-based online meditation module and yoga intervention on depression, anxiety, and stress in the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic Yoga Mimamsa 2023
and 5 more in the library
Cites 8
- Alterations in Brain and Immune Function Produced by Mindfulness Meditation Psychosomatic Medicine July 1, 2003
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- The Meditative Mind: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of MRI Studies BioMed Research International 2015
- Increased Grey Matter Associated with Long-Term Sahaja Yoga Meditation: A Voxel-Based Morphometry Study. PLoS One March 3, 2016
- Effects of yoga on brain waves and structural activation: A review. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice May 1, 2015
and 3 more in the library