Effect of an 18-Month Meditation Training on Regional Brain Volume and Perfusion in Older Adults
JAMA Neurology October 10, 2022 Gaël Chételat, Antoine Lutz, Olga Klimecki et al. 45 citations
An 18-month randomized trial of meditation training versus non-native language training or no intervention in cognitively unimpaired adults aged 65 and older found no significant changes in brain volume or perfusion of the anterior cingulate cortex or insula from meditation. Meditation did produce superior improvements in a composite score of attention regulation, socioemotional capacities, and self-knowledge compared with language training. The findings confirm the feasibility of both meditation and language training in older adults, with high adherence and low dropout, but the positive behavioral effects of meditation were not accompanied by measurable changes in the targeted brain structures.