Key result
Ten years of Integrative Body-Mind Training was associated with significantly higher overall quality of life, greater parasympathetic activity, and stronger resting-state brain connectivity compared to physical exercise.
Why the study?
Physical exercise and mindfulness meditation both improve physical and mental health, but whether they share the same underlying mechanisms remained unclear.
Does 10 years of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) improve brain connectivity, physiological markers, and quality of life compared to physical exercise in healthy older adults?
Observational (n=55)
No
Does 10 years of integrative body-mind training (IBMT) improve brain connectivity, physiological markers, and quality of life compared to physical exercise in healthy older adults?
p-value: p=<0.001
Long-term mindfulness meditation and physical exercise promote healthy aging through different mechanisms, with meditation inducing central nervous system plasticity and exercise improving cardiovascular fitness.
Observational data should not alter exercise prescriptions in older adults; leaves open unique long-term benefits of IBMT for randomized confirmation.
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.
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Tang et al. (2020) conducted an observational in Healthy aging (n=55). Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT) vs. Physical Exercise (PE) was evaluated on Overall score of quality of life (WHOQOL-100) (p=<0.001). Ten years of Integrative Body-Mind Training was associated with significantly higher overall quality of life, greater parasympathetic activity, and stronger resting-state brain connectivity compared to physical exercise.
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