Loving-kindness meditation slows biological aging in novices: Evidence from a 12-week randomized controlled trial.


Author: Le Nguyen KD1, Lin J2, Algoe SB1, Brantley MM3, Kim SL4, Brantley J5, Salzberg S6, Fredrickson BL7

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #3270, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA.

<sup>2</sup>Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics, University of California, 600 16th St, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA.

<sup>3</sup>Duke Integrative Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

<sup>4</sup>Office of Religious Life, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

<sup>5</sup>Duke Integrative Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.

<sup>6</sup>Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA, USA.

<sup>7</sup>Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #3270, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA. Electronic address: blf@unc.edu.
Conference/Journal: Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Date published: 2019 May 20
Other:
 Volume ID: 108   ,  Pages: 20-27   ,  Special Notes: doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.05.020. [Epub ahead of print]   ,  Word Count: 201  
    Combinations of multiple meditation practices have been shown to reduce the attrition of telomeres, the protective caps of chromosomes (Carlson et al., 2015). Here, we probed the distinct effects on telomere length (TL) of mindfulness meditation (MM) and loving-kindness meditation (LKM). Midlife adults (N = 142) were randomized to be in a waitlist control condition or to learn either MM or LKM in a 6-week workshop. Telomere length was assessed 2 weeks before the start of the workshops and 3 weeks after their termination. After controlling for appropriate demographic covariates and baseline TL, we found TL decreased significantly in the MM group and the control group, but not in the LKM group. There was also significantly less TL attrition in the LKM group than the control group. The MM group showed changes in TL that were intermediate between the LKM and control groups yet not significantly different from either. Self-reported emotions and practice intensity (duration and frequency) did not mediate these observed group differences. This study is the first to disentangle the effects of LKM and MM on TL and suggests that LKM may buffer telomere attrition.



Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.



KEYWORDS: Cell aging; Compassion meditation; Contemplative science; Metta; Positive psychology



PMID: 31185369  DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.05.020