K. I just found this research which seems to demonstrate that meditation can slow the aging process, keeping you younger. What do you think about it?
G. A new article sent in from Katherine MacLean @ Johns Hopkins looks at whether mind wandering has any impact on premature aging of the body. (Katherine was featured in the post "Persistent meditative states - how? psychedelics - how?...") The article is "Wandering Mind and Aging Cells", in Clinical Psychological Science (2012), by Elissa Eppel, et al. @ University of California @ San Francisco (UCSF), a highly-respected research institution for work like this.
Many research studies indicate that mind wandering leads to unhappiness...presence in the moment leads the opposite way. Is there any way to scientifically measure "biological aging", to see if mind wandering affects it?
Well, "telomere length" has emerged as a proxy of biological aging and has been correlated in several studies to severe stress. What are telomeres? Why do we have them?
Telomeres are "caps" over the end of chromosomes to protect them from deterioration or fusion w/neighboring chromosomes. Over time these telomeres break down and get shorter. When they shorten to a critical length, they cause the cells to stop functioning. This mechanism apparently evolved to prevent cells from replicating out of control, i.e. becoming cancerous. When these "zombie" cells build up in our organs it leads to their degeneration, illness and aging. Our adaptive cancer protection, as it typically the case in such evolutions, is a trade-off.
Telomeres were found by Lin, et al. in "Telomeres and lifestyle factors: Roles in cellular aging" in Mutation Research (2011) to shorten with age and psychological and physiological stress; telomere shortness predicted early disease and mortality . Shalev, et al. in "Exposure to violence during childhood is associated with telomere erosion from 5 to 10 years of age: A longitudinal study" in Molecular Psychiatry (2012) showed that telomere shortness may be a useful marker of accelerated aging early in life from exposure to violence.
Research on telomere length/aging was the subject of a 20 year study reported in "Telomere length and dynamics predict mortality in a wild longitudinal study" by Barrett, et al. (2012) in Molecular Ecology. This work was done on wild Seychelle's warblers on an isolated island w/no serious predators. This limitation of external variables improves the ability of the research to identify the effect of one key variable. This study was the first time telomeres were measured across the life span of an entire population, including people, which would take too long and would have too many variables.
The research demonstrated that shorter telomeres at any age is associated w/an increased risk of death. Telomere length was a better indication of life expectancy than actual age and hence demonstrated "biological age", correlating w/ damage accumulated over life, body condition, oxidative stress, physical and mental stress.
Many different scales/protocols were used in Eppel's study; a) Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, b) Non attachment Scale, c) Acting w/Awareness subscale of the "Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills", d) Patient Health Questionnaire, e) Perceived Stress Scale, f) Rumination and Reflection Questionnaire, and g) Satisfaction With Life Scale.
As you can see in the chart at the left, telomere length was decreased significantly w/decreased mind wandering "tendency". Those who reported "high mind wandering" had shorter telomeres, consistently across all immune cell types than did those who reported "low mind wandering".
It is obviously not clear what might happen w/high stress populations, or different demographics, wrt mind wandering. Shorter telomere length has been found in folk who are high-stress caregivers, who have major depression, have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder or domestic violence compared to those with no similarly stressful exposure.
The conclusion of the study was "In summary, despite the limitations of the current study, self-reported attentional state appears important to immune cell aging. A highly wandering mind may indicate a more rapidly aging body."
As far as what to do about mind wandering, the most widely-researched, broadly available, meditation technique is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), developed by Jon Kabat Zinn. Kabat-Zinn has written many books for the lay public including the popular "Wherever You Go, There You Are; Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life" and "Coming to Our Senses; Healing Ourselves and the World Through Mindfulness". Some folk i worked w/ found his "The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself From Chronic Unhappiness" very useful; strongly recommended.
Kabat-Zinn is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society and the renowned Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts. He has appeared "everywhere" including NPR, Bill Moyers, Oprah, Good Morning America, etc. His many efforts, excellent research and "secularizing" of meditation have made mindfulness available, and successful, for many folk. His work has relieved suffering in many lives.
There is now much excellent research focused on the cognitive neuroscience of how meditation reduces mind wandering. The research work on this topic @ Yale, in which i have been heavily involved, is covered in posts "Folk Who Meditate Decrease Mind Wandering" and "What is the Default Mode Network?..." as well as my presentation at the Science and NonDuality Conference "No Thoughts, No Time" and in videos @ "No Thoughts, No Time - I" and "No Thoughts, No Time - II".
As the Buddha reportedly said:
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
BTW, here are the video and the slides of my Science and NonDuality conference presentation in October in San Rafael, CA, "Exploring the Self Scientifically...Magic Mushrooms or Meditation? The Same Route?". The video just became available.
Also, for the European folk, i have been invited to present @ the Science and NonDuality conference @ Doorn, in the Netherlands, May 28 - June 2. Likely title is "How NonDual Awakening and Psychedelics Generate Similar Mystical Perceptions." Would be great to meet "in (imaginary, constructed) person".
G. A new article sent in from Katherine MacLean @ Johns Hopkins looks at whether mind wandering has any impact on premature aging of the body. (Katherine was featured in the post "Persistent meditative states - how? psychedelics - how?...") The article is "Wandering Mind and Aging Cells", in Clinical Psychological Science (2012), by Elissa Eppel, et al. @ University of California @ San Francisco (UCSF), a highly-respected research institution for work like this.
 |
| Elissa Eppel UCSF |
Many research studies indicate that mind wandering leads to unhappiness...presence in the moment leads the opposite way. Is there any way to scientifically measure "biological aging", to see if mind wandering affects it?
Well, "telomere length" has emerged as a proxy of biological aging and has been correlated in several studies to severe stress. What are telomeres? Why do we have them?
Telomeres are "caps" over the end of chromosomes to protect them from deterioration or fusion w/neighboring chromosomes. Over time these telomeres break down and get shorter. When they shorten to a critical length, they cause the cells to stop functioning. This mechanism apparently evolved to prevent cells from replicating out of control, i.e. becoming cancerous. When these "zombie" cells build up in our organs it leads to their degeneration, illness and aging. Our adaptive cancer protection, as it typically the case in such evolutions, is a trade-off.
 |
| Telomere caps (white) at the end of chromosomes (gray) |
Telomeres were found by Lin, et al. in "Telomeres and lifestyle factors: Roles in cellular aging" in Mutation Research (2011) to shorten with age and psychological and physiological stress; telomere shortness predicted early disease and mortality . Shalev, et al. in "Exposure to violence during childhood is associated with telomere erosion from 5 to 10 years of age: A longitudinal study" in Molecular Psychiatry (2012) showed that telomere shortness may be a useful marker of accelerated aging early in life from exposure to violence.
 |
| Seychelles Warbler |
The research demonstrated that shorter telomeres at any age is associated w/an increased risk of death. Telomere length was a better indication of life expectancy than actual age and hence demonstrated "biological age", correlating w/ damage accumulated over life, body condition, oxidative stress, physical and mental stress.
Eppel, et. al's study specifically asked "do people who spend more time fully engaged in the present and less time engaged in negative mind wandering have a slower rate of biological aging? They looked at the telomeres of 239 healthy women from 50 to 65 years of age from the San Francisco Bay Area who were nonsmokers, free from lifetime histories of cancer, including skin cancer, and autoimmune diseases. They had similar education and income levels, were predominantly western European/Caucasian and had similar stress levels, which were lower than typical for US women. No participants had extreme stress levels. This is an almost homogeneous sample, much like in the work on the Seychelles warblers, and is likely to be able to identify the effect of key variables.
Many different scales/protocols were used in Eppel's study; a) Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, b) Non attachment Scale, c) Acting w/Awareness subscale of the "Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills", d) Patient Health Questionnaire, e) Perceived Stress Scale, f) Rumination and Reflection Questionnaire, and g) Satisfaction With Life Scale.
It is obviously not clear what might happen w/high stress populations, or different demographics, wrt mind wandering. Shorter telomere length has been found in folk who are high-stress caregivers, who have major depression, have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder or domestic violence compared to those with no similarly stressful exposure.
The conclusion of the study was "In summary, despite the limitations of the current study, self-reported attentional state appears important to immune cell aging. A highly wandering mind may indicate a more rapidly aging body."
 |
| Jon Kabat-Zinn U Mass (Emeritus) |
Kabat-Zinn is the founding Executive Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society and the renowned Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts. He has appeared "everywhere" including NPR, Bill Moyers, Oprah, Good Morning America, etc. His many efforts, excellent research and "secularizing" of meditation have made mindfulness available, and successful, for many folk. His work has relieved suffering in many lives.
There is now much excellent research focused on the cognitive neuroscience of how meditation reduces mind wandering. The research work on this topic @ Yale, in which i have been heavily involved, is covered in posts "Folk Who Meditate Decrease Mind Wandering" and "What is the Default Mode Network?..." as well as my presentation at the Science and NonDuality Conference "No Thoughts, No Time" and in videos @ "No Thoughts, No Time - I" and "No Thoughts, No Time - II".
As the Buddha reportedly said:
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
BTW, here are the video and the slides of my Science and NonDuality conference presentation in October in San Rafael, CA, "Exploring the Self Scientifically...Magic Mushrooms or Meditation? The Same Route?". The video just became available.
Also, for the European folk, i have been invited to present @ the Science and NonDuality conference @ Doorn, in the Netherlands, May 28 - June 2. Likely title is "How NonDual Awakening and Psychedelics Generate Similar Mystical Perceptions." Would be great to meet "in (imaginary, constructed) person".
Hello Again Gary,
ReplyDeleteSince this blog talks about mind wandering,just wanted to bring up a dilemma that was related to the mind.Simply put,the purpose of meditation is to recreate the state of deep sleep that we experience on a daily basis(Absence of "I" in deep sleep and the consequent blissful quality of the deep sleep).For this to happen ,there must be a state of relaxed awareness in the subject.In my personal experience,these 2 qualities don't often go together(relaxation and awareness).If I am relaxed,then I gradually drift into unconscious sleep and on the other hand if I am aware,then I am not relaxed at all and I am tense to a great extent.
How can I reconcile these 2 states?
Hi Vj
ReplyDeleteThe state that is the "purpose" of our meditation is one of natural stillness, presence and peace. It has the feeling of nothing being needed to be brought in, and nothing needed to be taken away; it is already perfect and complete.
It is not "relaxation", as it is really heightened clarity and awareness w/o the obstruction of self-referential narrative. If the "I/me/my" is deconstructed, and revealed as just a construct, what arises "naturally" is this state which has been there all along.
It is not something we create; it is already there running "on the desktop" - we just have to get rid of the spam, viruses and malware that is obscuring it. It is, as you say, what is there when we are in deep sleep w/o dreaming, but it also there between two thoughts, at the end of each breath, and every morning when we first wake up before thought begins.
It is also there in virtually every pleasure when we reach a brief state of transcendence, whether it is bungee jumping, sex, or eating a ripe mango. The problem is that we mistake the pleasure as creating the transcendence, when all it does is get "I/me/my" out of the way for a few seconds to see the Self.
The brain naturally prefers this state to the usual confusion, endless thoughts, worry and sadness; if we give it enough examples of this state, through repeated self-inquiry, it will be able to, by trial and error, create a neural rearrangement to make it the preferred, and constant state. The brain has no interest in going elsewhere, which is why it is natural and requires no effort to abide there.
It is so simple; all it requires is diligence and persistence.
Trust this is useful.
Thanks for the reply ,Gary.Wrong choice of words when i say "recreate" the bliss experience of deep sleep.Like you pointed out,it is already there, like the Giant white movie screen,before the projector starts projecting the motion picture on it.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Vijey
This is an awesome article. Very informative and detailed. Thanks for spending so much effort in sharing this valuable information.
ReplyDeleteWith Regards,
Clinical Psychologist | Clinical Psychologist in Sydney