Life expectancy is constantly increasing in the developed countries due to medical, hygiene and socio-economic advances. Unfortunately, a longer life not always corresponds to a healthier life. Indeed, aging is associated with growing risk factors for illness associated with societal conditions (isolation, maltreatment), and neurodegenera- tive diseases. Even normal aging is associated with a cognitive decline that can hinder independence and quality of life of elderly. Thus, one major societal challenge is to build policies that support people of all ages to maintain a maximum health and functional capa- city throughout their lives. Meditation could be a promising intervention in contrasting the negative effects of aging. Indeed, it has been shown to enhance cognitive efficiency in several domains, such as attention and executive functions in young adults. Nevertheless, whether these effects extend to old participants is still a matter of debate. Few studies have directly investigated this issue, reporting encouraging results in a large panel of cognitive functions, such as: attention, executive functions and memory. However, a final conclusion about the causal role of meditation and the generalization of these results is made difficult due to several methodological limitations. We propose a roadmap for future studies to pass these limitations with the hope that the present work would contribute to the development of the young research field of meditation in gerontology.

Sperduti, M., Makowski, D., Blonde, P., Piolino, P. (2017). Meditation and successful aging: can meditative practices counteract age-related cognitive decline?. GÉRIATRIE ET PSYCHOLOGIE NEUROPSYCHIATRIE DU VIEILLISSEMENT, 15(2), 205-213 [10.1684/PNV.2017.0672].

Meditation and successful aging: can meditative practices counteract age-related cognitive decline?

Sperduti, Marco
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
2017-06-01

Abstract

Life expectancy is constantly increasing in the developed countries due to medical, hygiene and socio-economic advances. Unfortunately, a longer life not always corresponds to a healthier life. Indeed, aging is associated with growing risk factors for illness associated with societal conditions (isolation, maltreatment), and neurodegenera- tive diseases. Even normal aging is associated with a cognitive decline that can hinder independence and quality of life of elderly. Thus, one major societal challenge is to build policies that support people of all ages to maintain a maximum health and functional capa- city throughout their lives. Meditation could be a promising intervention in contrasting the negative effects of aging. Indeed, it has been shown to enhance cognitive efficiency in several domains, such as attention and executive functions in young adults. Nevertheless, whether these effects extend to old participants is still a matter of debate. Few studies have directly investigated this issue, reporting encouraging results in a large panel of cognitive functions, such as: attention, executive functions and memory. However, a final conclusion about the causal role of meditation and the generalization of these results is made difficult due to several methodological limitations. We propose a roadmap for future studies to pass these limitations with the hope that the present work would contribute to the development of the young research field of meditation in gerontology.
giu-2017
Pubblicato
Rilevanza nazionale
Review
Esperti anonimi
Settore PSIC-01/A - Psicologia generale
French
Senza Impact Factor ISI
meditation; mindfulness; aging; attention; cognition
Sperduti, M., Makowski, D., Blonde, P., Piolino, P. (2017). Meditation and successful aging: can meditative practices counteract age-related cognitive decline?. GÉRIATRIE ET PSYCHOLOGIE NEUROPSYCHIATRIE DU VIEILLISSEMENT, 15(2), 205-213 [10.1684/PNV.2017.0672].
Sperduti, M; Makowski, D; Blonde, P; Piolino, P
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/384673
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