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The Impact of neuroeducational methods on telomere length
Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas | InMedica Clinics | ||
Serapinienė, Anna | |||
Šimaitytė, Paulina | Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas | ||
Daugirdaitė, Inga | Lietuvos sveikatos mokslų universitetas | ||
Martinsone, Kristine | Riga Stradins University | ||
Leliugiene, Marija Mendele | Institute for Personality Development “Rafaelis” |
| Date Issued |
|---|
2019 |
Document Type: Meeting Abstract.
Background: Psychological factors are known to modulate the aging process, and might also act on genetic level. Telomeres and telomerase are basic molecular features of cells genetic senescence that also contributes to various diseases. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of neuroeducational methods on telomere length shortening. Method: The study was conducted on 20 relatively healthy subjects aged 23–59 years old. Data summarizes the findings on telomere length of neuroeducational group and controls at baseline and after 6 months post-intervention. Ten persons had regular (20 h/month) neuroeducational sessions (stress reduction, mindfulness, art therapy with professional specialists). Control group consisted of 10 individuals, matched by demographic and health history criteria. HT-Q-FISH (LifeLength, Spain) was used to measure the median telomere length (TL). Results: In neuroeducational group individuals, median TL over the 6 months period decreased 100 ± 27 base pairs (bp) – from 10480 bp to 10380 bp, whereas subjects in the control group lost 420 ± 80 bp telomeres – from 10920 bp to 10500 bp. The subjects of control group lost telomeres statistically significantly (p = 0.02). Discussion: The findings of this pilot study show that neuroeducational sessions reflect to slower shortening of telomeres. We hypothesize that neuroeducation can impact some biochemical pathways involved in stress-related mechanisms (cortisol level, autonomous nervous system, etc.) and may contribute to a “decreased aging” phenotype.