Mindfulness meditation training and cognitive functions in older adults

TL;DRAbstract

This study investigated the effect of a 10-week mindfulness meditation (MM) group program on older adults' performance on neuropsychological (CogState) tests of cognitive functions that typically decline with age. A sample of 44 meditation-naive adults (13 males, 31 females) aged 60-85 years (M= 69.07, SD = 6.53) completed neuropsychological tests of sustained attention, working memory, visuospatial memory, executive functions and processing speed. Following baseline testing, 22 of the participants attended a 10-week MM (Vipassana-based) training program involving weekly group meetings and daily individual MM practice, while 22 participants were part of an inactive (no intervention) control group. Both groups completed the same neuropsychological tests at the completion of the MM training program (3 months post-baseline-testing). The hypothesis that MM participants would show significant pre- to post-test improvements on all tests of cognitive functions, relative to the control group,

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