Cross-sectional white matter microstructure differences in age and trait mindfulness.
Wouter Boekel, Shulan Hsieh
PLoS One 2018 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205718 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 97 |
| Population | Middle-aged to elderly participants |
| Measures | Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity, axial diffusivity |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Trait mindfulness increased with age, and older participants showed a general increase in omnidirectional diffusion favoring radial over axial diffusivity, decreasing fractional anisotropy. Trait mindfulness mediated the FA-age effect in the internal and external capsule and corona radiata, which the authors suggest may indicate that trait mindfulness deters age-associated neurocognitive decline, perhaps by preventing microlesions in cortico-subcortical white matter tracts. |
Abstract
The process of aging can be characterized by a decline in cognitive performance, which may be accompanied by deterioration in specific structural properties of the brain. In this study we sought to investigate to what extent mindfulness changes over the aging process, and which alterations in brain structure can be associated to aging and concomitant changes in mindfulness. We collected Mindful Attention Awareness Scale questionnaire data to assess trait mindfulness and acquired diffusion-weighted imaging data fitted to the diffusion tensor model (DTI) in a group of 97 middle-aged to elderly participants. Our results showed that trait mindfulness increased with age. In terms of white matter structure our results suggested that there was a general increase of omnidirectional diffusion, which favored radial over axial diffusivity, leading to a decrease in fractional anisotropy (FA) in older participants. We further showed that trait mindfulness mediated the FA-age effect in a localized area consisting of the internal and external capsule, as well as the corona radiata. The implication of this mediation analysis is that trait mindfulness may deter age-associated neurocognitive decline, perhaps by preventing age-associated microlesions specifically in cortico-subcortical white matter tracts. This study can be considered a pioneer of using DTI studies to investigate the relationship between age and trait mindfulness.
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
Cites 19
- The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 2003
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- Regular, brief mindfulness meditation practice improves electrophysiological markers of attentional control Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Mindful Aging: The Effects of Regular Brief Mindfulness Practice on Electrophysiological Markers of Cognitive and Affective Processing in Older Adults Mindfulness December 27, 2015
- Resting-State Network Functional Connectivity Patterns Associated with the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale Brain Connectivity November 13, 2017
and 14 more in the library