Meditation Experience is Associated with Increased Structural Integrity of the Pineal Gland and greater total Grey Matter maintenance.
Meditation Experience is Associated with Increased Structural Integrity of the Pineal Gland and greater total Grey Matter maintenance.
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冥想体验与松果体结构完整性的增强和灰质总体维护程度的提高有关。
DOI：
10.1101/2024.03.04.24303649
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发表时间：
2024
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Dockree,PaulM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Plini,EmanueleRg;Melnychuk,MichaelC;Dockree,PaulM
越来越多的证据表明，冥想练习支持包括注意力和内感受性处理在内的认知功能，并与包括前额叶区域和前额叶在内的皮质网络的结构变化有关。然而，与冥想练习有关的皮层下形态测量学变化的程度却不太受重视。一个值得注意的候选者是松果体，它是褪黑激素的主要生产者，褪黑激素调节昼夜节律，增强睡眠-觉醒模式，也可能提供神经保护作用，以抵消认知能力下降。与对照组相比，在介质中观察到松果体中褪黑素水平增加以及fMRI BOLD信号增加。然而，长期冥想者的松果体结构变化是否与一生的练习时间有关，目前还不清楚。在目前的研究中，我们进行了基于体素的形态测定（VBM）分析，以调查：1）与对照组（n=969）相比，长期冥想者（LTM）（n=14）是否表现出更大的松果体完整性，2）估计的冥想寿命（ELHOM）与松果体完整性之间的潜在关联，和3）LTM是否显示与松果体完整性相关的更大的灰质（GM）维持（BrainPAD）。结果显示，与对照组相比，LTM的松果体完整性更高，BrainPAD评分更低（脑年龄更小）。探索性分析显示，ELHOM与松果体中更大的信号强度呈正相关，但与通过BrainPAD评分测量的GM维持无关。然而，在LTM中，更大的松果体完整性和更低的BrainPAD评分相关。冥想影响松果体功能，激素代谢和GM维护的潜在机制进行了讨论-特别是褪黑激素在睡眠，免疫反应，炎症调节，干细胞和神经再生中的作用。
Growing evidence demonstrates that meditation practice supports cognitive functions including attention and interoceptive processing, and is associated with structural changes across cortical networks including prefrontal regions, and the insula. However, the extent of subcortical morphometric changes linked to meditation practice is less appreciated. A noteworthy candidate is the Pineal Gland, a key producer of melatonin, which regulates circadian rhythms that augment sleep-wake patterns, and may also provide neuroprotective benefits to offset cognitive decline. Increased melatonin levels as well as increased fMRI BOLD signal in the Pineal Gland has been observed in mediators vs. controls. However, it is not known if long-term meditators exhibit structural change in the Pineal Gland linked to lifetime duration of practice. In the current study we performed Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis to investigate: 1) whether long-term meditators (LTMs) (n=14) exhibited greater Pineal Gland integrity compared to a control group (n=969), 2) a potential association between the estimated lifetime hours of meditation (ELHOM) and Pineal Gland integrity, and 3) whether LTMs show greater Grey Matter (GM) maintenance (BrainPAD) that is associated with Pineal Gland integrity. The results revealed greater Pineal Gland integrity and lower BrainPAD scores (younger brain age) in LTMs compared to controls. Exploratory analysis revealed a positive association between ELHOM and greater signal intensity in the Pineal Gland but not with GM maintenance as measured by BrainPAD score. However, greater Pineal integrity and lower BrainPAD scores were correlated in LTMs. The potential mechanisms by which meditation influences Pineal Gland function, hormonal metabolism, and GM maintenance are discussed – in particular melatonin’s roles in sleep, immune response, inflammation modulation, and stem cell and neural regeneration.