[en] Importance: No lifestyle-based randomized clinical trial directly targets psychoaffective risk factors of dementia. Meditation practices recently emerged as a promising mental training exercise to foster brain health and reduce dementia risk.
Objective: To investigate the effects of meditation training on brain integrity in older adults.
Design, Setting, and Participants: Age-Well was a randomized, controlled superiority trial with blinded end point assessment. Community-dwelling cognitively unimpaired adults 65 years and older were enrolled between November 24, 2016, and March 5, 2018, in France. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1:1) to (1) an 18-month meditation-based training, (2) a structurally matched non-native language (English) training, or (3) no intervention arm. Analysis took place between December 2020 and October 2021.
Interventions: Meditation and non-native language training included 2-hour weekly group sessions, practice of 20 minutes or longer daily at home, and 1-day intensive practices.
Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes included volume and perfusion of anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula. Main secondary outcomes included a global composite score capturing metacognitive, prosocial, and self-regulatory capacities and constituent subscores.
Results: Among 137 participants (mean [SD] age, 69.4 [3.8] years; 83 [60.6%] female; 54 [39.4%] male) assigned to the meditation (n = 45), non-native language training (n = 46), or no intervention (n = 46) groups, all but 1 completed the trial. There were no differences in volume changes of ACC (0.01 [98.75% CI, -0.02 to 0.05]; P = .36) or insula (0.01 [98.75% CI, -0.02 to 0.03]; P = .58) between meditation and no intervention or non-native language training groups, respectively. Differences in perfusion changes did not reach statistical significance for meditation compared with no intervention in ACC (0.02 [98.75% CI, -0.01 to 0.05]; P = .06) or compared with non-native language training in insula (0.02 [98.75% CI, -0.01 to 0.05]; P = .09). Meditation was superior to non-native language training on 18-month changes in a global composite score capturing attention regulation, socioemotional, and self-knowledge capacities (Cohen d, 0.52 [95% CI, 0.19-0.85]; P = .002).
Conclusions and Relevance: The study findings confirm the feasibility of meditation and non-native language training in elderly individuals, with high adherence and very low attrition. Findings also show positive behavioral effects of meditation that were not reflected on volume, and not significantly on perfusion, of target brain areas.
Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02977819.
Research Center/Unit :
GIGA CRC (Cyclotron Research Center) In vivo Imaging-Aging & Memory - ULiège
Disciplines :
Neurosciences & behavior
Author, co-author :
Chételat, Gael; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Lutz, Antoine; Lyon Neuroscience Research Center INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France
Klimecki, Olga; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva Medical School, Geneva, Switzerland
Frison, Eric; EUCLID/F-CRIN Clinical Trials Platform, INSERM, CHU Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux, CIC1401-EC, Bordeaux, France
Asselineau, Julien; EUCLID/F-CRIN Clinical Trials Platform, INSERM, CHU Bordeaux, University of Bordeaux, CIC1401-EC, Bordeaux, France
Schlosser, Marco; Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom ; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
Arenaza-Urquijo, Eider M; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France ; Barcelonabeta Brain Research Center, Fundación Pasqual Maragall, Barcelona, Spain
Mézenge, Florence; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Kuhn, Elizabeth; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Moulinet, Inès; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Touron, Edelweiss; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Dautricourt, Sophie; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
André, Claire; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Palix, Cassandre; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Ourry, Valentin; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Felisatti, Francesca; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Gonneaud, Julie; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Landeau, Brigitte; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Rauchs, Géraldine; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Chocat, Anne; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Quillard, Anne; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Devouge, Eglantine Ferrand; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France ; Normandie Univ, UNIROUEN, Department of General Practice, Rouen, France ; Rouen University Hospital, CIC-CRB 1404, F 76000, Rouen, France
Vuilleumier, Patrik; Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva Medical School, Geneva, Switzerland
de La Sayette, Vincent; CHU Caen-Normandie, Department of Neurology, Caen, France
Vivien, Denis; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France ; CHU Caen-Normandie, Department of Clinical Research, Caen, France
Collette, Fabienne ✱; Université de Liège - ULiège > GIGA > GIGA CRC In vivo Imaging - Aging & Memory
Poisnel, Géraldine ✱; Normandie Univ, UNICAEN, INSERM, U1237, Physiopathology and Imaging of Neurological Disorders (PhIND), Institut Blood and Brain @ Caen-Normandie, Cyceron, France
Marchant, Natalie L ✱; Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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