Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel demonstrated in research that meditators had longer telomeres than age-matched controls.
"Elizabeth Blackburn showed that, and Elissa Epel, I think, that meditators had longer telomeres than age-matched controls" (said at 1:44:58)
Elizabeth Blackburn and Elissa Epel have conducted seminal research on cellular aging and meditation, but the speaker conflates telomerase activity (the enzyme that maintains and elongates telomeres) with telomere length itself. In their landmark randomized controlled study of a 3-month meditation retreat compared to age- and sex-matched controls (Jacobs et al., 2011), participants undergoing intensive meditation showed significantly higher immune cell telomerase activity than controls, rather than direct demonstration of longer telomeres.
- context: Can meditation slow rate of cellular aging? Cognitive stress, mindfulness, and telomeres. (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2009)
"Given the pattern of associations revealed so far, we propose that some forms of meditation may have salutary effects on telomere length by reducing cognitive stress and stress arousal and increasing positive states of mind and hormonal factors that may promote telomere maintenance." (abstract, conclusions, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi) - context: Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediator… (Psychoneuroendocrinology 2011)
"Although we did not measure baseline telomerase activity, the data suggest that increases in perceived control and decreases in negative affectivity contributed to an increase in telomerase activity, with implications for telomere length and immune cell longevity." (abstract, conclusions, passage verified)
pubmedfull study (doi)