Author: Tang YY1, Fan Y2, Lu Q2, Tan LH3, Tang R4, Kaplan RM5, Pinho MC6,7, Thomas BP7, Chen K8, Friston KJ9, Reiman EM8
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Department of Psychological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, United States.
<sup>2</sup>Institute of Neuroinformatics and Laboratory for Body and Mind, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China.
<sup>3</sup>Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Science, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
<sup>4</sup>Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, United States.
<sup>5</sup>Clinical Excellence Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States.
<sup>6</sup>Department of Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.
<sup>7</sup>Advanced Imaging Research Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States.
<sup>8</sup>Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States.
<sup>9</sup>Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
Conference/Journal: Front Psychol.
Date published: 2020 Apr 2
Other:
Volume ID: 11 , Pages: 358 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00358. eCollection 2020. , Word Count: 311
Previous studies have shown that physical exercise and mindfulness meditation can both lead to improvement in physical and mental health. However, it is unclear whether these two forms of training share the same underlying mechanisms. We compared two groups of older adults with 10 years of mindfulness meditation (integrative body-mind training, IBMT) or physical exercise (PE) experience to demonstrate their effects on brain, physiology and behavior. Healthy older adults were randomly selected from a large community health project and the groups were compared on measures of quality of life, autonomic activity (heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance response, respiratory amplitude/rate), immune function (secretory Immunoglobulin A, sIgA), stress hormone (cortisol) and brain imaging (resting state functional connectivity, structural differences). In comparison with PE, we found significantly higher ratings for the IBMT group on dimensions of life quality. Parasympathetic activity indexed by skin conductance response and high-frequency heart rate variability also showed more favorable outcomes in the IBMT group. However, the PE group showed lower basal heart rate and greater chest respiratory amplitude. Basal sIgA level was significantly higher and cortisol concentration was lower in the IBMT group. Lastly, the IBMT group had stronger brain connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the striatum at resting state, as well as greater volume of gray matter in the striatum. Our results indicate that mindfulness meditation and physical exercise function in part by different mechanisms, with PE increasing physical fitness and IBMT inducing plasticity in the central nervous systems. These findings suggest combining physical and mental training may achieve better health and quality of life results for an aging population.
Copyright © 2020 Tang, Fan, Lu, Tan, Tang, Kaplan, Pinho, Thomas, Chen, Friston and Reiman.
KEYWORDS: cortisol; heart rate variability; integrative body-mind training (IBMT); mindfulness interventions; physical exercise (PE); quality of life; secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA); skin conductance response
PMID: 32300317 PMCID: PMC7142262 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00358