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Meditation may protect older people against Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, according to new research.

The ancient relaxation technique boosts brainpower among people over 65 years-old, scientists in France say. It can boost attention, awareness, and emotional health – faculties that decline with dementia.

Meditation was superior to non-native language training on changing a global composite score and two of its subscores reflecting attention regulation and socio-emotional capacities,” says corresponding author Dr. Gael Chetelat from Caen-Normandy University in a statement, according to SWNS. French participants assigned to an 18-month course did better than those given English lessons instead to keep their brains busy. They have been linked to well-being, suggesting meditation improves mental health and “human flourishing.”

“The attention regulation subscore increased after meditation only,” Dr. Chetelat tells SWNS. “In the context of meditation practices, this capacity allows a heightened awareness and monitoring of the contents of experience without becoming absorbed by them. Socio-emotional capacities decreased substantially after non-native language training, suggesting the difference observed may be due to maintenance of skills by meditation.”

https://studyfinds.org/meditation-protect-alzheimers/

There were no significant differences in the primary outcomes they were looking for.

However,

"Regarding secondary outcomes, meditation was superior to non-native language training on changing a global composite score and 2 of its subscores reflecting attention regulation and socioemotional capacities."

So meditation was superior in giving the results that meditation specifically practices. Um, ok.

I'm trying to learn, my ADD makes it hard.

This sentence in the discussion gets to exactly what I was thinking as I read the study:

“Moreover, as in most preventive trials, our population resulted in being, through self-selection, enriched with healthy participants with high education and reserve, and low probability of cognitive decline, which left limited room for lifestyle changes and intervention-related improvements.”

The authors were using this to explain why they might not have seen as big an improvement as they thought they might find. I think it also suggests why it might not be very applicable to a broader range of elderly individuals at risk for dementia: They would likely lack sufficient motivation to stick with the program.

Hate misreading things. I was about to call out on medallion metaphysical rubbish.

Try a breathing technique rather than pure meditation. I think this works due to relaxation. Breathing techniques lower heart rate and increases heart rate variability, which in turn relaxes you.

wagamaga, well on his way to 11 million karma

I just started about 3 months ago.

Wanted some help and decided upon Waking Up App (no affiliation in any way).

Not diagnosed as ADD, but probably would have been if not so old (61).

I find the walking through process of the sessions helps focus.

And I go in basement in quiet space which helps.

And App is free if you don't have the means to pay for it.

I hope this study is true.

Good luck

Fwiw, i found breathing techniques mindnumbingly boring, but there is a sensation of bliss to be found if you relax and let go ( i find it faster if i squeeze my eyes shut for some reason).

That is the sensation i focus on to meditate on instead. And that works pretty well. ( I have suspected ADD, still need medical confirmation, but have a lot of the symptoms)

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Just an f.y.i. (and maybe a warning for other people?), I visited the site of the waking up app, you can get a 7 day free trial, after that you have to pay a subscription (it states unless you don't have the means, I don't know how to qualify for this). There is no pricing information anywhere on the website. I don't know how legit this is, but not being open about your pricing upfront seems scammy to me.

I initially got the free 7 days, But then I ended up getting 3 months for free (from my son who tried it - via en email from Waking Up).

Had a special for $ 99 for 1 year.

I don't know criteria for free either.

I'm having a hard time finding from where the title draws it's implied conclusion. The study associated with the headline found showed no positive correlation between decreased dementia and meditation.

Instead it found that..."Results indicate that the 18-month meditation-based intervention did not significantly modify the volume of the ACC and insula in older adults compared with a passive or active control, respectively; the between-group differences did not reach statistical significance for perfusion either. Regarding the main secondary outcomes, there were significant effects of meditation compared with non-native language training on the global composite score reflecting attention regulation, socioemotional, and self-knowledge capacities and two-thirds of its constituent subscores"

Are the secondary outcomes associated the lowered dementia risk?

There's a wild range of things that people call "meditation". When I think in meditation I don't think in anything guided, I think in a Zen dojo where everyone is silent and sit facing the wall. Hard and simple "letting thoughts pass", focusing in the posture, living the now... as a lack of better words. I don't know if it's better than others "versions" of meditation but the reality is there's not a standard meditation.

Every time I try to understand what meditation is supposed to be I end up more confused. There's so much contradiction on this subject.

I'm not saying it's easy, but facing boredom and sticking to it is the point of meditation.

It really isnt.

Meditation is meant to train your mind to focus and concentrate ( though it can also be used to turn inward and seek peace).

That means you re meditation when you gently bring your mind back from wherever it wandered to to your focal point.

What that focal point is - externally or internally- does not matter. It could be your breath, the sensation of your little toe, a candle flame, music, a mantra or a topic to reflect om.

And sure, boredom can be an obstacle or challenge in that process. Or rather, restlessness is.

But it’s hardly the point.

The point is to focus on being in the moment with your focal point, whatever that may be. And to be aware enough to come back to it whenever you wander off.

It is perfectly fine to switch to a different focal point if the one you re using currently isnt working for you or is boring you to bits. The point is to actually encourage the practice and get the hang of it - not get competitive by whiteknuckling it.

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> Meditation is meant to train your mind to focus and concentrate

That's debatable. There are several types of meditation where focusing is not the point, see Shikantaza and Vipassana.

But sticking to it when you really don't feel like it? Absolutely. Otherwise it's hard to see how you can get it into your routine (and that goes for exercise and just about any other healthy behaviour) or even complete one sitting, where negative feelings are bound to arise. In my experience, that might occasionally include "white-knuckling" it. At least this is how I made it work for me daily for 14 years.

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I think a lot of people conflate mindfulness exercises with meditation at times. While there is some overlap and one can say “mindfulness meditation”, I usually think of more transcendental-type meditation, with trying to let thoughts pass and focusing on a mantra to help anchor the mind into emptiness and simple consciousness.

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Walking meditation might be good! Another thing to keep in mind is that if your mind wanders, that’s not doing meditation incorrectly- a lot of people think that.

When doing breathing meditation, even if you are only able to focus on one breath for 1,5,10 or 15 minutes, you have succeeded. It’s not like “your mind wandered for most of the session, you did it wrong”. Technically if you breathe in right now as you read this sentence and focus on that one breath, you just meditated.

Thanks. I've been walking and jogging alot.

That’s good, I have adhd too and found that meditating immediately after exercise makes it waaay easier to stick to