Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Cognitive Functions in Elderly People

INTRODUCTION: In elderly people, there is a progressive age related decline in cognitive functions (Pardo JV, et al. 2007) which affect their decision making ability in social life. Regular practice of mindfulness meditation (MM) has shown a significant impact on psychological wellbeing of meditators (Chiesa A, et al. 2011). Most of the studies have been done either in younger age group, wide age group or for shorter duration. Hence, this study was done with the objective to study the effect of mindfulness meditation on the cognitive function in elderly people.

METHODS: In this randomized control trial 100 elderly people (>60 years) were recruited. People practicing meditation, on substance abuse, having neurological disorder were excluded. Subjects were randomly divided into study (meditator) group (n=50) and control (non-meditator) group (n=50). Study was approved by the institutional scientific and ethical committee. Cognitive functions like visual scanning, response speed and sustained attention were assessed by Letter Cancellation Test (LCT) (Sharma VK, et al. 2006) in both the groups. The time (in seconds) taken by the subject to perform the task and the number of errors (omissions and commissions) were counted. Study group practiced mindfulness meditation (Moore A, et al, 2012) for 30min/day, 6days/week for 45days of study period under the guidance of meditation instructor. Control group did not undergo meditation practice.  After 45days both the groups were again evaluated by LCT. Statistical analysis was done by student’s t test and p value < 0.05 was considered significant.

RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the age, sex distribution and LCT baseline scores (time taken p=0.725; commission p=0.626; omission p=0.615) between study and control groups. After 45 days of MM practice, the study group showed a significant improvement in the omission (p=0.001) and commission (p=0.017) parameters when compared to their baseline values. Control group did not show any significant improvement in omission (p=0.795) and commission (p=0.188). There was no significant difference in the total time taken for LCT between the post and pre-tests in both study (p=0.729) and control (p= 0.170) groups.

CONCLUSIONS: Elderly people who practised MM showed a significant improvement in the cognitive functions like visual scanning, response speed and sustained attention. Regular practice of MM by elderly people helps to prevent the decline in cognitive functions and may improve their quality of life.