Effects of Combining Meditation Techniques on Short-Term Memory, Attention, and Affect in Healthy College Students

Cognitive Skills and DNA Methylation Are Correlating in Healthy and Novice College Students Practicing Preksha Dhyāna Meditation

The impact of different meditation protocols on human health is explored at the cognitive and cellular levels. Preksha Dhyana meditation has been observed to seemingly affect the cognitive performance, transcriptome, and methylome of healthy and novice participant practitioners. In this study, we performed correlation analyses to investigate the presence of any relationships in the changes in cognitive performance and DNA methylation in a group of college students practicing Preksha Dhyāna (N = 34). Nine factors of cognitive performance were assessed at baseline and 8 weeks postintervention timepoints in the participants. Statistically significant improvements were observed in six of the nine assessments, which were predominantly relating to memory and affect. Using Illumina 850 K microarray technology, 470 differentially methylated sites (DMS) were identified between the two timepoints (baseline and 8 weeks), using a threshold of p-value < 0.05 and methylation levels beyond -3% to 3% at every site. Correlation analysis between the changes in performance on each of the nine assessments and every DMS unveiled statistically significant positive and negative relationships at several of these sites. The identified DMS were in proximity of essential genes involved in signaling and other important metabolic processes. Interestingly, we identified a set of sites that can be considered as biomarkers for Preksha meditation improvements at the genome level.

Preksha Dhyāna Meditation Effect on the DNA Methylation Signature in College Students

Introduction: The stress and psychological factors affect the human transcriptomic and epigenomic landscapes. Preksha Dhyana meditation (PM) was found to be effective, in novice healthy college student meditators, at the cognitive skills and transcriptomic levels. Recently published data showed that PM induced alterations at the transcriptome level in healthy and novice college students. Methods: To decipher potential mechanisms underlying the PM effect at the cellular level, array-based methylation analyses in peripheral blood were performed at baseline and 8 weeks postintervention in 34 participants. Results: Overall, 470 CpG sites were nominally differentially methylated (p ≤ 0.05 and change magnitude from ≥3% to ≤ -3%) between baseline and 8 weeks postintervention with 180 sites hypermethylated and 290 sites hypomethylated. Pathway analysis of the genes linked to the differentially methylated sites revealed the enrichment of several molecular and cellular signaling pathways, especially metabolic and brain function signaling pathways. Conclusions: Besides its beneficial effects on cognitive skills and transcriptome alterations, the current data indicate that PM meditation also affects the DNA methylation profile of novice and healthy college students 8 weeks postintervention. Clinical Trial Registration number: NCT03779269.

Preksha Dhyāna meditation induces alterations at the transcriptome level in novice and healthy college students

Background

The human transcriptome across a variety of cell types and tissues are affected by stress and other psychological factors. Preksha Dhyana meditation (PM) is effective at improving cognitive skills in novice healthy college student meditators after 8 weeks of intervention, but the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in these improvements are still largely unknown.

Methods

In order to decipher potential mechanisms at the cellular level, transcriptomic profiling analyses, from peripheral blood, were performed at baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention in 18-paired participants (RNASeq).

Results

At the transcriptomic level, 494 genes were nominally differentially expressed (p-value ≤ 0.05) between baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention. Our data showed that 136 genes were upregulated, while 358 genes were downregulated. These genes were enriched in several cellular pathways including innate and adaptive immunity, cell signaling, and other metabolic processes.

Conclusions

Overall, our findings indicate that PM meditation affects gene expression patterns from whole blood in novice healthy college students. Improvements at the cognitive skills were also mirrored with changes at RNA expression profiling.

Age-Related Differential Effects of School-Based Sitting and Movement Meditation on Creativity and Spatial Cognition: A Pilot Study

Psychophysical well-being can be supported during development by the integration of extra-curricular activities in scholastic settings. These activities can be implemented in different forms, ranging from physical activities to sitting meditation practices. Considering that both such activities are thought to affect children’s psychophysical development, a movement-based meditation that combines the two approaches−in the form of a short daily activity−could represent a powerful tool to promote healthy physical and mental development. Consequently, the current pilot study aimed to examine the effect of short daily school-based sitting and movement meditation trainings on creativity and spatial cognition. Utilizing a crossover design, we evaluated their feasibility and efficacy at different ages among children (n = 50) in 5th to 8th grade. We observed that 5 weeks of daily training in sitting and movement meditation techniques improved children’s cognition differently. Specifically, younger children showed greater creativity and better spatial cognition following the movement-based meditation, while older children showed greater enhancement in these areas following sitting meditation training. This suggests that training can affect children’s cognition differently depending on their developmental stage. We discuss these results within the framework of embodied and grounded cognition theories. Information on feasibility and age-related effect sizes derived from the current study paves the way for future well-powered larger-scale efficacy studies on different forms of school-based interventions to cognitive development promotion.

Efficacy of Short Course of Preksha Dhyana for Functional Abdominal Pain Disorder in a Busy Pediatric Clinic

Introduction: Mind body techniques such as meditation improve symptoms in children and adults with IBS. Typical courses, however, are lengthy and difficult to administer. We report our experience with a short course of Preksha Dhyana (PD), a child-friendly focused meditation with yoga. Method: Physicians deliver focused meditation while medical assistants taught yoga. Three sessions were administered biweekly with recommendations for daily practice. Pain severity Likert scores were compared with a treatment as usual (TAU) historical control. Anxiety scores were compared from baseline in the PD group. Results: Thirty PD patients aged 9-17 (20 female) and 52 consecutive TAU group aged 5-17 (33 female) were reviewed. The biweekly sessions had high (71%) completion rates. Utilization rates of PD were similar to TAU despite added sessions. The PD group had an average time of follow-up of 8.9 ± 9.4 vs. 6.0 ± 3.9 months in the TAU group (p = 0.522). Changes in pain scores from baseline showed improvement in the PD group, 0.67 ± 0.13 vs. TAU 1.39 ± 0.11 (p = 0.0003). In the PD group, anxiety scores improved significantly from baseline (0.5 vs. 1, P < 0.001). Pain improved in 93% (28/30) and resolved in 47% (14/30). Conclusion: A short course of PD was successfully embedded in a busy pediatric office without additional staffing. The approach proved cost-effective without increasing overall healthcare utilization and showed significant benefits over TAU. Pending RCT confirmation, this offers a cost-effective method to incorporate mind-body techniques into a pediatric office practice.