Meditation improved thinking-test scores in older adults with cognitive difficulties
Trials involving older adults with cognitive concerns, impairment or Alzheimer's disease favored meditation on an overall thinking test. Depression results did not show a statistically significant benefit.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Among older adults with cognitive complaints, mild impairment or Alzheimer's disease, meditation improved overall thinking-test scores compared with controls. Sleep quality and general health questionnaire scores also improved, while depression scores did not show a statistically significant difference. Differences between studies and limited sample sizes make the pooled results uncertain, particularly for individual diagnostic groups.
The authors identify differences between studies and limited sample sizes. The abstract does not report treatment schedules, follow-up lengths or separate effects for each cognitive condition.
What researchers found
Mini-Mental State Examination
Meditation versus controls: mean score difference 2.22 (95% confidence interval 0.83–3.62). Assessment timing was not reported in the abstract.
A test score is the outcome
The primary measure was the Mini-Mental State Examination, a test of overall cognitive performance. A higher average score is the reported result; it does not establish that meditation prevented cognitive decline or changed the course of Alzheimer's disease.
Different populations were pooled
The review included people reporting cognitive decline as well as people with diagnosed impairment or Alzheimer's disease. The abstract gives an overall estimate rather than separate results for each group, so equal benefits across these populations cannot be assumed.
The original publication
Meditation for subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Shi J, Tian H, Wei J et al.
Front Public Health · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40520277
- Record checked
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