Aging typically shrinks brain volume and lowers glucose metabolism, with stress and poor sleep accelerating these changes. In a pilot study comparing 6 elderly expert meditators with 67 elderly controls, the meditators showed greater gray matter volume and/or FDG metabolism in several brain regions: the ventromedial prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex, insula, temporo-parietal junction, and posterior cingulate cortex/precuneus. These same regions were most affected by age in a larger control group of 186 people aged 20 to 87. The differences persisted after adjusting for lifestyle factors and education. The findings suggest that lifelong meditation might reduce age-related brain decline, but larger and longitudinal studies are needed.
Expert meditators show preserved brain structure and better psycho-affective health compared to meditation-naive older adults, suggesting that long-term meditation practice may protect against age-related decline. The study examined older expert meditators and older meditation-naive participants, finding that the expert group had greater brain preservation and more favorable psycho-affective profiles. These results indicate that meditation could be a protective factor for brain and mental health in aging.