Two recent studies propose two very different methods to slow brain aging: researchers from Inserm (France) have tested the effects of meditation, while, on the other side of the Atlantic, Canadian researchers have played seniors in the video game Super Mario 64 ...
Will you rather do meditation on the beach or games of video games with the grandchildren in the living room? It does not matter: either of these two activities seems beneficial to protect the brain from aging! This is revealed by two small studies unveiled in early December, one in France, the other in Canada.
The first is a pilot study published in Scientific Reports in which Inserm researchers studied the brains of six meditation experts . At 65 years old on average, they had practiced at least 15,000 hours of this activity. The functioning of their brains was compared to that of 67 people of comparable age who did not practice meditation.
The examinations revealed differences in the volume of material gray and the metabolism of glucose . Specifically, the frontal and cingulate cortex as well as the insula of the meditation experts had a higher volume or metabolism. However, as Gaël Chételat, the main author of this work, explains in a press release , "the brain regions detected with a greater volume, or metabolism, in people practicing meditation are specifically those that decline the most with age" .
In contrast, stress and sleep problems tend to age the brain prematurely, increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease .