title: A pilot study of the effects of meditation on regional brain metabolism in distressed dementia caregivers.
abstract: AIMS: Caregiver distress can affect mood and cognition. Meditation can be used to reduce stress. This pilot study explored whether yogic meditation could change regional cerebral metabolism in distressed caregivers.  METHODS: Nine dementia caregivers were randomized to undergo meditation training compared with relaxation for 12 min per day for 8 weeks. Caregivers received neuropsychiatric assessments and brain FDG-PET scans at baseline and postintervention.  RESULTS: The groups did not differ on measures of mood, mental and physical health, and burden at baseline and follow-up. When comparing the regional cerebral metabolism between groups, significant differences over time were found in the bilateral cerebellum (p < 0.0005), right inferior lateral anterior temporal (p < 0.0005), right inferior frontal (p = 0.001), left superior frontal (p = 0.001), left associative visual (p = 0.002) and right posterior cingulate (p = 0.002) cortices.  CONCLUSION: Meditation practice in distressed caregivers resulted in different patterns of regional cerebral metabolism from relaxation. These pilot results should be replicated in a larger study.
authors: Department of Molecular & Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors: Kelsey L
authors: KL
authors: Pomykala
authors: Daniel Hs
authors: DH
authors: Silverman
authors: Cheri L
authors: CL
authors: Geist
authors: Patricia
authors: P
authors: Voege
authors: Prabha
authors: P
authors: Siddarth
authors: Nora
authors: N
authors: Nazarian
authors: Natalie M
authors: NM
authors: St Cyr
authors: Dharma S
authors: DS
authors: Khalsa
authors: Helen
authors: H
authors: Lavretsky
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