Meditation could protect older people
Meditation has many health benefits: stress reduction, cognitive performance, pain management… It has become more and more popular in recent years, especially among the working population, particularly subject to daily stress at work. But, according to a new study published in the journal JAMA Neurology, meditation would also be beneficial for seniors. It could protect them against Alzheimer’s disease, by stimulating certain brain capacities.
Dementia: meditation gives better results than language lessons
French researchers from the University of Caen-Normandie have found that in people over 65, meditation stimulates intellectual, socio-emotional abilities, attention and self-knowledge – faculties that decline with dementia. . Volunteers who were assigned to a meditation course for 18 months even had better results than those who took English lessons.
The study included 137 French people over the age of 65 divided into three groups. The meditation and English classes included weekly two-hour sessions, for 18 months. They also practiced at home for at least 20 minutes a day. A control group continued to live their lives normally, without intervention.
Meditation has many other health and wellness benefits
“Previous studies have shown that mindfulness meditation improves cognition, especially in older adults in several areas including attention, executive functions, and self-awareness or metacognition” said the researchers in a press release, relayed by the media Study finds. “Mindfulness meditation can also reduce stress, anxiety and depression, including in older people”they add.
Scientists believe mindfulness meditation also holds promise for relieving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which causes intrusive thoughts and emotional numbness.
“Meditation appears to be a promising approach to preserve brain structure and function and cognition, and thus reduce the risk of dementia by directly targeting psycho-emotional factors”said Dr Gael Chetelat of the University of Caen-Normandy.
