Forever young: Meditation might slow the age-related loss of gray matter in the brain

[Carmody]

Forever young: Meditation might slow the age-related loss of gray matter in the brain

Since 1970, life expectancy around the world has risen dramatically, with people living more than 10 years longer. That's the good news.

The bad news is that starting when people are in their mid-to-late-20s, the brain begins to wither—its volume and weight begin to decrease. As this occurs, the brain can begin to lose some of its functional abilities.

So although people might be living longer, the years they gain often come with increased risks for mental illness and neurodegenerative disease. Fortunately, a new study shows meditation could be one way to minimize those risks.

Building on their earlier work that suggested people who meditate have less age-related atrophy in the brain's white matter, a new study by UCLA researchers found that meditation appeared to help preserve the brain's gray matter, the tissue that contains neurons.

The scientists looked specifically at the association between age and gray matter. They compared 50 people who had mediated for years and 50 who didn't. People in both groups showed a loss of gray matter as they aged. But the researchers found among those who meditated, the volume of gray matter did not decline as much as it did among those who didn't.

The article appears in the current online edition of the journal Frontiers in Psychology.

Dr. Florian Kurth, a co-author of the study and postdoctoral fellow at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center, said the researchers were surprised by the magnitude of the difference.

"We expected rather small and distinct effects located in some of the regions that had previously been associated with meditating," he said. "Instead, what we actually observed was a widespread effect of meditation that encompassed regions throughout the entire brain."

As baby boomers have aged and the elderly population has grown, the incidence of cognitive decline and dementia has increased substantially as the brain ages.

"In that light, it seems essential that longer life expectancies do not come at the cost of a reduced quality of life," said Dr. Eileen Luders, first author and assistant professor of neurology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "While much research has focused on identifying factors that increase the risk of mental illness and neurodegenerative decline, relatively less attention has been turned to approaches aimed at enhancing cerebral health."

Each group in the study was made up of 28 men and 22 women ranging in age from 24 to 77. Those who meditated had been doing so for four to 46 years, with an average of 20 years.

The participants' brains were scanned using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. Although the researchers found a negative correlation between gray matter and age in both groups of people—suggesting a loss of brain tissue with increasing age—they also found that large parts of the gray matter in the brains of those who meditated seemed to be better preserved, Kurth said.

The researchers cautioned that they cannot draw a direct, causal connection between meditation and preserving gray matter in the brain. Too many other factors may come into play, including lifestyle choices, personality traits, and genetic brain differences.

"Still, our results are promising," Luders said. "Hopefully they will stimulate other studies exploring the potential of meditation to better preserve our aging brains and minds. Accumulating scientific evidence that meditation has brain-altering capabilities might ultimately allow for an effective translation from research to practice, not only in the framework of healthy aging but also pathological aging."

[Guish]

Not surprising. The benefits are obvious once one starts practising. A direct causal relation is tough to find. One who meditates tends to have more balance and this leads to better eating habits, better relationships and better attitude. All of these result in better health. Results from some studies have proved that bad emotions cause the DNA to contract while the reverse is also true. Meditation calms the mind and this immediately affects the health. The higher aim of meditation still is Enlightenment though.

[pianoman1954]

As a 60 year old who has taken up meditation in the last 12 months I find this very interesting.

By the way does anybody now what day it is?

Pianoman

[Flash]

Posted by pianoman1954 (here)
As a 60 year old who has taken up meditation in the last 12 months I find this very interesting.

By the way does anybody now what day it is?

Pianoman

It was time you started meditating. In fact, you started when truly near the precipice!!! lolllllllllllllll

[lastlegs]

This deserves a huge bump from this 70 year old.

[Twig]

Meditation is amazing people, If you're not doing it you need to get started. It opens up a whole new world.

[Ernie Nemeth]

Magnetic resonance imaging uses high electrical fields to induce magnetic fields in the atoms of iron in the blood. The thinking goes that since active regions of the brain consume more blood and nutrients due to the active cellular mechanisms, those areas with the highest magnetic fields should correlate to the active regions.

I find that fascinating. Opens many lines of inquiry.

Meditation also balances and intensifies the aura. Combined with deep breathing, which oxygenates the entire system, brain activity actually synchronizes and changes resonance. Once synced, cognitive abilities naturally soar, the immune system is recharged, and overall energy becomes more abundant.

Meditation also soothes and calms, relaxing the animal "flight or fight" response, the deadly stress we carry around with us every day because of our busy modern lifestyles. Neuropeptides are released during meditation that counter the over-active adrenal glands.

All that is just for starters.

The rewards and advantages go on and on!

[Carmody]

And the coup de grâce; the corollary:

I can't find it but there was a recent study on 'busyness', ie always busy. always occupied. specifically...always on the smart phone.

that excessive smart phone use, ie, obsessive smart phone use..... triggered a downsizing of the brain, into less grey matter.

That we need the downtime, it is critical. To be busy all the time, to be occupied all the time is to move into being less intelligent with smaller brains.

Ouch.

So much for the busy city life. Handful of warm turds for the big city cell phone obsessed!