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Yoga, Meditation and Mind-Body Health: Increased BDNF, Cortisol Awakening Response, and Altered Inflammatory Marker Expression after a 3-Month Yoga and Meditation Retreat
Open accessAbstract
Thirty-eight individuals (mean age: 34.8 years old) participating in a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat were assessed before and after the intervention for psychometric measures, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), circadian salivary cortisol levels, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Participation in the retreat was found to be associated with decreases in self-reported anxiety and depression as well as increases in mindfulness. As hypothesized, increases in the plasma levels of BDNF and increases in the magnitude of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) were also observed. The normalized change in BDNF levels was inversely correlated with BSI-18 anxiety scores at both the pre-retreat (r = 0.40, p < 0.05) and post-retreat (r = 0.52, p < 0.005) such that those with greater anxiety scores tended to exhibit smaller pre- to post-retreat increases in plasma BDNF levels. In line with a hypothesized decrease in inflammatory processes resulting from the yoga and meditation practices, we found that the plasma level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-10 was increased and the pro-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-12 was reduced after the retreat. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, plasma levels of other pro-inflammatory cytokines, including Interferon Gamma (IFN-γ), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Interleukin-8 (IL-8) were increased after the retreat. Given evidence from previous studies of the positive effects of meditative practices on mental fitness, autonomic homeostasis and inflammatory status, we hypothesize that these findings are related to the meditative practices throughout the retreat; however, some of the observed changes may also be related to other aspects of the retreat such as physical exercise-related components of the yoga practice and diet. We hypothesize that the patterns of change observed here reflect mind-body integration and well-being. The increased BDNF levels observed is a potential mediator between meditative practices and brain health, the increased CAR is likely a reflection of increased dynamic physiological arousal, and the relationship of the dual enhancement of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine changes to healthy immunologic functioning is discussed.
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“After a 3-month yoga retreat, participants (mean age 34.8 years) were found to have increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and improved inflammatory biomarkers (reduced IL-12 and increased IL-10), though IL-6, a proinflammatory cytokine, increased (Cahn et al., 2017).”
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Yuping, Z., Tianbi, L., Wentao, S., Li, Y., & Zhang, G. (2024) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1155/da/5716755 · Cited by 27
“Mind – body exercises can improve systemic blood circulation, enhance respiratory function, and regulate the endocrine system, thereby ensuring better nutrition and oxygen supply to the brain, which promotes neuronal health and BDNF expression [49, 50].”
Bhandari, R. B. (2022) · Annals of Neurosciences · doi:10.1177/09727531221117623 · Cited by 16
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“…and arrhythmia [29] and vasova-gal syncope [30]; in internal medicine for metabolic syndrome [31,32], irritable bowel [33], inflammatory markers [34,35] and immune system [36]; in neurology/psychology for stress, anxiety and burnout [37,38]; in pneumology [39,40]; in orthopedics/physiatry for…”
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The Rationale of Yoga in Parkinson's Disease: A Critical Review
Mailankody, P., Varambally, S. S., Thennarasu, K., & Pal, P. K. (2021) · Neurology India · doi:10.4103/0028-3886.329545 · Cited by 16
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“…evidence that retreat stays can have a positive impact on biological processes such as metabolic and neurological pathways, telomerase activity (Conklin et al., 2018; Epel et al., 2016), anti-in fl ammatory biomarkers (Cahn et al., 2017) neural functioning (Kozasa et al., 2018; Taren et al., 2015).”
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“Increased blood BNDF levels are a potential mediator between meditation practice and brain health [13].”
InfluentialGarner, M., Reith, W., & Krick, C. M. (2019) · Journal of Neuroimaging in Psychiatry and Neurology · doi:10.17756/jnpn.2019-027 · Cited by 15
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“Several studies have posited that PA reduces stress via biological mechanisms.(12,30) It is also possible that using PA for stress management reduces exposure to maladaptive coping strategies (eg, rumination, worry), which have negative consequences on long-term stress resilience.”
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“…in Shoonya of various Isha Yoga programs reported significant reductions in anxiety and depression and the emergence of positive outcomes (Cahn et al., 2017; Chang et al., 2022; Hariri et al., 2022; Mal-ipeddi et al., 2024; Peterson et al., 2017; Sadhasivam et al., 2020, 2021; Upadhyay,…”
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Yoga for Healthy Aging: Science or Hype?
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“colleagues found that a 90-day yoga and meditation retreat was associated with reductions in brain-derived neurotrophic factor, Hypothalamic-Pituitary Axis activity, increased IL-10 and decreased IL-12 indicators of lower overall inflammatory activity that has been associated with premature aging [29].”
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BackgroundOn the road to resilience: Epigenetic effects of meditation
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The Influence of Meditative Interventions on Immune Functioning: A Meta-Analysis
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Yoga and Lifestyle Changes: A Path to Improved Fertility – A Narrative Review
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“[53] In a study involving 66 rheumatoid arthritis patients, a YBLI demonstrated significant improvements, including a noteworthy decrease in DAS28‑ESR ( P 0.001) and enhanced quality of life in physical, psychological, and social domains ( P 0.001).”
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“65”
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Hariri, S., Vishnubhotla, R. V., Reed, P. U., Rayapuraju, A., Orui, H., Balachundhar, P., Sadhasivam, S., & Subramaniam, B. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.944973 · Cited by 15
“Previous studies demonstrated positive effects of these programs on mental health (7–9), brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) levels (7, 10), endocannabinoid levels (7), heart rate variability (HRV) (11), and brain functional connectivity (12).”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Cahn, B. R., Goodman, M. S., Peterson, C. T., Maturi, R., & Mills, P. J.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Alliant University (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Midwest Eye Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Cahn, B. Rael
- Venue
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2017-06-26
- Volume
- 11
- Pages
- 315-315
- ISSN
- 1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5483482
- OpenAlex
- W2648234476
- Cited by
- 292
- References
- 112
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 81 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 37.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Biofield Effects and Biophysics
- Keywords
- yoga, meditation, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, cortisol awakening response, salivary cortisol, inflammatory cytokines, IL-10, IL-12, anxiety, depression, mindfulness, mind-body integration, well-being, autonomic homeostasis, neuroinflammation
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