Reduced age-related degeneration of the hippocampal subiculum in long-term meditators.
Florian Kurth, Nicolas Cherbuin, Eileen Luders
Psychiatry Research June 30, 2015 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2015.03.008 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 100 |
| Population | 50 long-term meditators and 50 control subjects |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Aging Brain Hippocampus MRI Subiculum |
| Key findings | The left subiculum showed a significant group-by-age interaction: subicular volume declined with age in controls but showed no significant correlation in meditators, while controls overall had steeper negative regression slopes. The authors suggest this indicates reduced age-related atrophy of the left subiculum in meditators, possibly through long-term mental training or stress reduction. |
Abstract
Normal aging is known to result in a reduction of gray matter within the hippocampal complex, particularly in the subiculum. The present study was designed to address the question whether the practice of meditation can amend this age-related subicular atrophy. For this purpose, we established the correlations between subicular volume and chronological age within 50 long-term meditators and 50 control subjects. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were automatically processed combining cytoarchitectonically defined probabilistic maps with advanced tissue segmentation and registration methods. Overall, we observed steeper negative regression slopes in controls. The analysis further revealed a significant group-by-age interaction for the left subiculum with a significant negative correlation between age and subicular volume in controls, but no significant correlation in meditators. Altogether, these findings seem to suggest a reduced age-related atrophy of the left subiculum in meditators compared to healthy controls. Possible explanations might be a relative increase of subicular tissue over time through long-term training as meditation is a process that incorporates regular and ongoing mental efforts. Alternatively, because meditation is an established form of reducing stress, our observation might reflect an overall preservation of subicular tissue through a reduced neuronal vulnerability to negative effects of stress.
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 23
- Reduced age-associated brain changes in expert meditators: a multimodal neuroimaging pilot study Scientific Reports August 25, 2017
- Editorial: What can Neuroscience Learn from Contemplative Practices? Frontiers in Psychology November 10, 2015
- Reduced Age-Related Gray Matter Loss in the Orbitofrontal Cortex in Long-Term Meditators Brain Sciences December 6, 2023
- Decoding meditation mechanisms underlying brain preservation and psycho-affective health in older expert meditators and older meditation-naive participants. Scientific Reports November 27, 2024
- Commentary: Meditation Effects within the Hippocampal Complex Revealed by Voxel-Based Morphometric and Cytoarchitectonic Probabilistic Mapping Frontiers in Psychology November 19, 2015
and 18 more in the library
Cites 18
- Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Neuroreport November 7, 2005
- Investigation of mindfulness meditation practitioners with voxel-based morphometry Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience December 3, 2007
- Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 2000
- Increased gray matter volume in the right angular and posterior parahippocampal gyri in loving-kindness meditators Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience July 18, 2012
- Meditation effects within the hippocampal complex revealed by voxel-based morphometry and cytoarchitectonic probabilistic mapping Frontiers in Psychology 2013
and 13 more in the library