Abstract
Previous studies have shown that physical exercise and mindfulness meditation can both lead to improvement in physical and mental health. However, it is unclear whether these two forms of training share the same underlying mechanisms. We compared two groups of older adults with 10 years of mindfulness meditation (integrative body-mind training, IBMT) or physical exercise (PE) experience to demonstrate their effects on brain, physiology and behavior. Healthy older adults were randomly selected from a large community health project and the groups were compared on measures of quality of life, autonomic activity (heart rate, heart rate variability, skin conductance response, respiratory amplitude/rate), immune function (secretory Immunoglobulin A, sIgA), stress hormone (cortisol) and brain imaging (resting state functional connectivity, structural differences). In comparison with PE, we found significantly higher ratings for the IBMT group on dimensions of life quality. Parasympathetic activity indexed by skin conductance response and high-frequency heart rate variability also showed more favorable outcomes in the IBMT group. However, the PE group showed lower basal heart rate and greater chest respiratory amplitude. Basal sIgA level was significantly higher and cortisol concentration was lower in the IBMT group. Lastly, the IBMT group had stronger brain connectivity between the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the striatum at resting state, as well as greater volume of gray matter in the striatum. Our results indicate that mindfulness meditation and physical exercise function in part by different mechanisms, with PE increasing physical fitness and IBMT inducing plasticity in the central nervous systems. These findings suggest combining physical and mental training may achieve better health and quality of life results for an aging population.
Highlights
Aging is associated with decline in processing speed, memory, motor control and mental flexibility, which greatly impacts individual well-being and health
We found that 5 days of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) improves secretory Immunoglobulin A level following additional 20 min training after stress (Tang et al, 2007), and the baseline sIgA level is greater after 4-weeks of IBMT compare to relaxation training (Fan et al, 2010, 2013)
A significant correlation between dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and striatum was detected in the combined IBMT and physical exercise (PE) groups (N = 26, 13 in each group)
Summary
Aging is associated with decline in processing speed, memory, motor control and mental flexibility, which greatly impacts individual well-being and health. Previous studies have shown that both physical exercise and forms of mindfulness meditation can influence aspects of attention and self-regulation (Okazaki et al, 2005; Tang et al, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015a; Hillman et al, 2008; Ludwig and Kabat-Zinn, 2008; Wen et al, 2011). Months to years of PE have been shown to improve cardiovascular function, physical health and cognitive performance, and are associated with larger gray matter volumes in certain brain regions such as the hippocampus (Okazaki et al, 2005; Hillman et al, 2008; Wen et al, 2011). Several long-term meditation studies have shown increases in ACC activation and gray matter volume and other regions, such as the striatum and insula (Cahn and Polich, 2006; Ludwig and Kabat-Zinn, 2008; Chiesa and Serretti, 2010; Tang et al, 2015a; Tang, 2017)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
