Preventing dementia in seniors: meditation still under investigation

Meditation as a tool to prevent dementia and improve the mental health and well-being of elderly people is one of the avenues explored by the European Medit-Ageing research program, coordinated by Inserm. As part of this program, researchers from Inserm and Université de Caen Normandie, in collaboration with French and European teams, observed the impact of 18 months of meditation training on certain brain structures involved in regulating attention and emotions in healthy people over 65. While their findings, to be published in JAMA Neurology , show a positive impact on attentional and socio-emotional regulation capacities, they do not show any significant benefits of meditation on the volume and functioning of the brain structures studied, in comparison to control groups. However, they do call for further research to study the brain as a whole, over longer time periods, and with more participants. In order to prevent the onset of dementia in elderly people, recent intervention strategies have been multidisciplinary and focused on lifestyle improvements. These include cognitive stimulation, physical activity, a healthy diet, and cardiovascular recommendations. However, there are no dedicated preventive interventions for psycho-affective factors such as depression, stress, and anxiety.