BrainAGE and regional volumetric analysis of a Buddhist monk: a longitudinal MRI case study
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Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (YMR) is a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and renowned meditation practitioner and teacher who has spent an extraordinary number of hours of his life meditating. The brain-aging profile of this expert meditator in comparison to a control population was examined using a machine learning framework, which estimates "brain-age" from brain imaging. YMR's brain-aging rate appeared slower than that of controls suggesting early maturation and delayed aging. At 41 years, his brain resembled that of a 33-year-old. Specific regional changes did not differentiate YMR from controls, suggesting that the brain-aging differences may arise from coordinated changes spread throughout the gray matter.
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There is some evidence for specific effects of different forms of meditation practice on both the brain and behavior with longer and more intensive practice.
“There is some evidence for specific effects of different forms of meditation practice on both the brain and behavior with longer and more intensive practice163–167.”
From A common factors perspective on mindfulness-based interventions (2022) · cites this paper as [163]
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- Authors
- Adluru, N., Korponay, C. H., Norton, D. L., Goldman, R. I., & Davidson, R. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Adluru, Nagesh
- Venue
- Neurocase
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-02-26
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 79-90
- ISSN
- 1355-4794 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-3656
- PMC
- PMC7150651
- OpenAlex
- W3007005114
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 2.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Neurocase (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (UF1AG051216, R01AG037639, R56AG037639)
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U54AI117924)
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (R01EB022883)
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (P01AT004952)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U54HD090256)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Keywords
- brain aging, brain age prediction, meditation, Buddhist monks, longitudinal MRI, regional brain volume, machine learning
- MeSH terms
- Machine Learning, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aging, Buddhism, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Meditation, Neuroimaging, Monks, Gray Matter
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