Study: Meditation Improves Cognition in Those With Memory Loss

(February 24, 2010) The Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation today announced data demonstrating that a specific meditation performed daily for eight weeks increased brain activity in areas central to memory and actually improved cognition in patients suffering from memory problems. The results of the study, conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, were published in an early online version of an article scheduled to appear in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Volume 20:2, DOI 10.3233/JAD-2010-1391).

The risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) rises dramatically as people age and, as the ranks of our nation’s elderly swell, the number of people facing this disease will devastate our already overburdened healthcare system. Slowing the progression of AD by five or ten years would lessen this burden dramatically, but few options to slow, or perhaps even prevent memory loss exist.

“While meditation is already practiced by millions, this is the first study to investigate its potential to reverse memory loss in patients with cognitive impairment,” said Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., the founding president and medical director of the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation, a meditation expert and study co-author.

Kirtan Kriya (KK), the meditation evaluated in the study, is a 12-minute practice from the Kundalini yoga tradition. “These results confirm what we have long observed in clinical practice, that this brief, simple meditation can have a meaningful impact on memory and on the quality of people’s lives as they age.” The frontal lobe of the brain, which became more active as a result of meditation in the study, aids in attention and concentration and has been shown to be affected in patients with dementia disorders. The frontal lobe and the parietal lobe, another part of the brain positively affected in the study, are both parts of the brain which are involved in retrieving memories.

“It would be extremely useful to have a cost-effective, non-pharmacological approach to slowing memory loss that could bolster the effect of medications without fear of side effects or drug-drug interactions,” said Andrew Newberg, M.D., assistant professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and study co-author. “While further study into the impact of Kirtan Kriya is required, the pilot study demonstrates that this meditation could be a very important tool in slowing cognitive decline.”

About the Study

Fifteen subjects with memory problems, ranging in age from 52 to 77 years, were enrolled in this open-label pilot study. At the start of the study, cognitive tests, as well as images of the brain measuring cerebral blood follow (CBF), were taken for each subject using Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) scans. Subjects were taught KK and instructed to practice it each day for eight weeks. While this was an open-label study, a small comparison group (n=5) was also recruited in which the meditation was replaced with a music listening task. The “music group” was instructed to listen to two Mozart violin concertos each day for approximately 12 minutes. Subjects kept a daily log of their study activity and were contacted at four weeks with a reminder to continue the practice.

After eight weeks, cognitive tests and SPECT scans were repeated for both groups and researchers compared pre-program with post-program results. The study found that: CBF was increased in the KK group in the frontal lobe regions and the right superior parietal lobe In contrast, a non-significant increase in CBF was seen in the music group in the amygdala and precuneus areas of the brain The KK group had statistically significant improvements in a neuropsychological test which measures cognition by asking subjects to name as many animals as they can in one minute Improvements were also seen in the KK group in three other cognitive tests that measured general memory, attention and cognition There were no statistically significant improvements in cognition in the music group Participants found the meditation to be enjoyable and beneficial and perceived their cognitive function to be improved

About the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation

The Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation (ARPF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the incidence of Alzheimer's disease by conducting clinical research and providing educational outreach about the lifestyle changes that can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

 

NCCAM Advisory Council Adds Five Members

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) recently announced five new members of the National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NACCAM). The council serves as the principal advisory body to NCCAM, the lead Federal agency for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) research, and a component of the National Institutes of Health.

The council is composed of physicians, scientists, licensed CAM practitioners, and members of the public who contribute their time and expertise over a four-year term. Members meet three times per year, offering advice and recommendations on prioritization, conduct, and support of CAM research, including research training and communication of evidence-based health information.

The new NACCAM members are:

Adam Burke, Ph.D., M.P.H., L.Ac., is a professor in the Department of Health Education and director of the Institute for Holistic Health Studies at San Francisco State University. He received training in traditional East Asian medicine at the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in San Francisco and the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Sichuan, China, and is a licensed acupuncturist. Dr. Burke served as co-chair of the Alternative and Complementary Health Practices section of the American Public Health Association. He is a professional member of the California Acupuncture Board and formerly served as chair. He was editor-in-chief of The American Acupuncturist, a quarterly publication by the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and was recently appointed to the Education Working Group of the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care.

Gary Curhan, M.D., Sc.D., is an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a practicing nephrologist and a senior investigator at the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Curhan is an internationally recognized expert in population epidemiology and the epidemiology of kidney disease and has had research funded by NIH over the last 15 years. He has served on numerous local, national, and international committees, including NIH review panels and advisory committees. Dr. Curhan is currently the primary mentor for four junior faculty members who have NIH career development awards.

Steven T. DeKosky, M.D., is vice president, University of Virginia, and dean, University of Virginia School of Medicine. Dr. DeKosky’s clinical research includes differential diagnosis, neuroimaging, and genetic risks for Alzheimer’s disease and trials of new medications. His basic research centers on structural and neurochemical changes in human brains in normal aging and dementia. He was director of an NCCAM-funded national multicenter trial to assess whether Ginkgo biloba can delay onset of dementia in normal elderly adults. Dr. DeKosky was vice-chair of the national board of directors of the Alzheimer’s Association and chair of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of both the US Alzheimer's Association and Alzheimer’s Disease International.

Susan Folkman, Ph.D., is professor emeritus, Department of Medicine, University of California-San Francisco (UCSF). She was formerly the founding director of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF and co-director of the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. She is internationally recognized for her theoretical and empirical contributions to the field of psychological stress and coping, and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She also was a member of the Institute of Medicine panel on CAM use in the United States, served as chair of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, and the North American Research Conference on Complementary and Integrative Medicine in 2006.

Janet Kahn, Ph.D., is executive director of the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium; research assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont; and faculty preceptor in the Fellowship in Complementary and Alternative and General Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Past appointments were at Tufts University (Community Health Program) and the Wellesley Center for Research on Women. Dr. Kahn has been a massage therapist for 30 years, treating people with chronic pain and exploring the contributions of touch, movement, and mindfulness to human well being. Current research focuses on applications of massage for chronic pain and on use of mindfulness and touch in community-based health care delivery. Kahn served as president of the American Massage Therapy Association Foundation and director of the Massage Therapy Research Consortium.

NCCAM’s mission is to explore complementary and alternative medical practices in the context of rigorous science, train CAM researchers, and disseminate authoritative information to the public and professionals. For additional information, call NCCAM’s Clearinghouse toll free at 1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCAM Web site at nccam.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.