THE MIND AND BEYOND: THE ROLE OF MINDFULNESS AND TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION PRACTICES IN LATE LIFE MOOD DISORDERS

Mindfulness and transcendental meditation techniques have emerging research supporting them as positive additions to treatment as usual/standard care for mood and/or cognitive disorders among older adults. This session will highlight this recent research and evidence of the benefits of these interventions in the context of late-life depression (LLD) and late-life anxiety (LLA). In the spirit of the 2019 American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) conference's theme of partnership, these results are presented by a team of researchers located at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec,Canada, the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, and Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. The aim of this session is to present findings of non-pharmacological, meditation-based intervention clinical trials for LLD and LLA, as well as potential effects on cognition. Dr. Torres-Platas will present research findings comparing mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) to treatment as usual (TAU) for late-life depression and anxiety in the primary care setting. She will also present data examining the effects of MBCT on markers of inflammation in this population. Dr. Lifshitz will be presenting fMRI results for a randomized controlled trial of MBCT for adults, as well as briefly discussing the protocol for an upcoming MBCT and SSM neuroimaging study. Ben Peckham, M.Sc., will present findings of a study examining treatment as usual plus SSM compared to treatment as usual among a sample of patients with late-life depression. Following the presentations, there will be an interactive discussion, led by Dr. Vasudev and Dr. Rej, concerning the clinical applications of these interventions and directions for future research. The session will be chaired by Dr. Vasudev.