Impact of meditation on brain age derived from multimodal neuroimaging in experts and older adults from a randomized trial

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Abstract
Meditation is thought to promote healthy aging by improving mental health, preserving brain integrity and reducing Alzheimer’s disease risk. We examined the impact of long-term meditation expertise and an 18-month meditation training on brain aging in older adults using machine learning. We included 25 Older Expert Meditators (OldExpMed) with > 20 years of practice and 135 Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults (CUOA) from the Age-Well randomized controlled trial. CUOA were randomized (1:1:1) into an 18-month meditation training, a non-native language training, and a no intervention group. Brain age was predicted using a machine learning model trained on gray and white matter volume and glucose metabolism data from ADNI and replicated with a second model. Brain Predicted Age Difference (BrainPAD) was computed as the gap between predicted and chronological age. We assessed meditation expertise effects on BrainPAD, its links with meditation hours, cognitive, and affective measures, and the impact of 18-month training. Compared to CUOA, OldExpMed exhibited significantly lower/more negative BrainPAD, linked to meditation hours, mental imagery, and prosocialness. No significant effect of 18-month training was observed. Results were consistent across the replication model. Long-term meditation is associated with younger brain age, but 18-month training has no effect, emphasizing the need for sustained practice to support healthy brain aging.
Funding Information
  • FONDATION ALZHEIMER
  • Fondation de France
  • Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
  • Ministère de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche
  • Alzheimer’s Society (AS-SF-15b-002)
  • Secrétariat d’État à la formation, à la recherche et à l'innovation (15.0336)
  • Fondation d’Entreprise MMA, des Entrepreneurs du Futur and MMA
  • Région Normandie
  • Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique
  • Agence Nationale de la Recherche
  • Association France Alzheimer et maladies apparentées
  • Fondation Vaincre Alzheimer
  • Fondation pour la Recherche sur Alzheimer

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