A pilot study of the effects of meditation on regional brain metabolism in distressed dementia caregivers.
Author: Pomykala KL, Silverman DH, Geist CL, Voege P, Siddarth P, Nazarian N, St Cyr NM, Khalsa DS, Lavretsky H.
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Conference/Journal: Aging health.
Date published: 2012 Oct 1
Other:
Volume ID: 8 , Issue ID: 5 , Pages: 509-516 , Word Count: 153
AIMS:
Caregiver distress can affect mood and cognition. Meditation can be used to reduce stress. This pilot study explored whether yogic meditation could change regional cerebral metabolism in distressed caregivers.
METHODS:
Nine dementia caregivers were randomized to undergo meditation training compared with relaxation for 12 min per day for 8 weeks. Caregivers received neuropsychiatric assessments and brain FDG-PET scans at baseline and postintervention.
RESULTS:
The groups did not differ on measures of mood, mental and physical health, and burden at baseline and follow-up. When comparing the regional cerebral metabolism between groups, significant differences over time were found in the bilateral cerebellum (p < 0.0005), right inferior lateral anterior temporal (p < 0.0005), right inferior frontal (p = 0.001), left superior frontal (p = 0.001), left associative visual (p = 0.002) and right posterior cingulate (p = 0.002) cortices.
CONCLUSION:
Meditation practice in distressed caregivers resulted in different patterns of regional cerebral metabolism from relaxation. These pilot results should be replicated in a larger study.
PMID: 23378856
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