Daily Meditation Could Slow Aging in Your Brain, Study Says

An 18-year study in Neurocase of the mind of a Buddhist monk by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Center for Healthy Minds found daily, intensive meditation slowed brain aging by up to eight years compared to controls, reports CNN . Center director Richard Davidson and lead scientist Nagesh Adluru examined the mind of Tibetan Buddhist meditation master Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche using magnetic resonance imaging and a machine learning framework to calculate "brain age." Rinpoche was scanned four times, at the ages of 27, 30, 32, and 41 years old. At the time of the last scan, his brain was estimated to be 33 — eight years younger than his biological age. Comparison of Rinpoche's brain to a control group showed that his brain seemed to age much slower than the general focus group. "If these effects accumulate over time, we think there will be very important health and well-being implications," Davidson said.