Meditation Slows Brain Aging
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison report that the regular practice of intensive meditation slowed the aging process in the monk’s brain by as much as eight years. The investigators said their study is the first to use serial MRI scans to examine a long-term meditator’s brain, which were performed over intervals between 2002 and 2016. The exams began when meditator Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche was 27 years old and were repeated when he was 30, 32 and 41. The researchers compared the results of the scans with those of more than 100 people who did not practice meditation. Study leader Richard Davidson said the findings suggest that it is possible to change the rate at which the brain ages “through engaging in practices that are nourishing and helpful for our well-being.”
Source:
Richard J. Davidson et al “BrainAGE and regional volumetric analysis of a Buddhist monk: a longitudinal MRI case study,” Neurocase, DOI: 10.1080/13554794.2020.1731553
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