Effect of Mindfulness on EEG Brain Activity for Cognitive and Psychological Well-being in the Elderly

As the worldwide population of older adults rapidly increases over the coming years, effective strategies are needed to help this population to maintain and enhance physical, cognitive, and psychological well-being. Up to 10% of community dwelling older adults have depressive symptoms in Europe. Older adults are also subject to chronic illnesses which further exacerbate psychological symptoms. Furthermore, normal aging is associated with decline in cognitive functioning. Given the prevalence of mental health problems and cognitive difficulties in older adults, mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) could be helpful in this population. Accordingly, a growing number of studies suggest that mindfulness-based interventions in the elderly have beneficial effects on psychological health (decrease in depression, anxiety, sleep problems, and increase in general mood and positive affect) and cognition (enhanced attention, executive functions). Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive technique which can be useful to study the neurophysiological correlates of mindfulness, and give neurobiological evidence of its beneficial effect in the elderly. Studies that examined spectral power outcomes between mindfulness and control state showed (i) increased alpha and theta power, as a marker of internally-directed attention processing and executive functioning and (ii) a shift towards left-sided anterior alpha activation, a pattern associated previously with positive emotions. The aim of this study is to evaluate short and long-term cognitive, psychological, and physiological effects of a standard 8-week MBI in healthy older adults. Cognitive and psychological evaluations, and resting state EEG will be administered within 2 weeks prior to and within 2 weeks following MBI, and repeated 24 weeks following MBI.