The youthful brain

Do you expect to deteriorate as you get older? It is a common expectation that we will gradually experience loss of mental and physical function as the years roll by but is that change a necessity or merely a product of life choices. Certainly the passage of 80 or 90 years will not leave the body and mind unmarked and after the initial growth and development phased of life there will be a change in certain capacities, although that is not to say that all capacities will deteriorate. We know for instance that the ageing brain can better distinguish irrelevancies than the younger brain. Yet even beyond that it is also true that some behaviours can hasten decline while others will avoid or slow it. Meditation is one such activity that slows deterioration that we associate with ageing.This has been shown again in a new study which has found that regular meditators have preservation of the grey matter in the brain.

In the new study researchers examined subjects aged between 24 and 77. Half of the subjects had meditated for between four and 46 years and half of them had never meditated. Both groups were matched so that they closely corresponded in age composition.

Using high resolution MRI to scan the brains of participants the researchers found that while grey matter did decrease with age in the meditators there was significantly less grey matter loss in many brain regions. The researchers commented that although they had expected localised brain effects their results were showing that meditation has effects throughout the entire brain.

It is still possible that something about people who choose to meditate will have genetic make-ups and lifestyles that might lead to better maintenance of grey matter over time. However, if you are reading this and thinking that you should be meditating more then the chances are that your brain will age better if you do.