BrainAGE and regional volumetric analysis of a Buddhist monk: a longitudinal MRI case study

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche (YMR) is a Tibetan Buddhist monk, and renowned meditation practitioner and teacher who has spent an extraordinary number of hours of his life meditating. The brain-aging profile of this expert meditator in comparison to a control population was examined using a machine learning framework, which estimates “brain-age” from brain imaging. YMR’s brain-aging rate appeared slower than that of controls suggesting early maturation and delayed aging. At 41 years, his brain resembled that of a 33-year-old. Specific regional changes did not differentiate YMR from controls, suggesting that the brain-aging differences may arise from coordinated changes spread throughout the gray matter.

永耶·明久仁波切（Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche，简称YMR）是藏传佛教僧侣，同时也是享誉国际的冥想修行者与导师，其一生投入冥想修习的时长远超常人。本研究采用机器学习框架，通过脑成像数据估算脑年龄（brain-age），对比了这位资深冥想者与对照组人群的脑衰老特征。结果显示，YMR的脑衰老速度慢于对照组，提示其大脑早熟且衰老延迟——在41岁时，其大脑状态相当于33岁人群。进一步分析发现，特定脑区的变化并未将YMR与对照组区分开来，这表明脑衰老差异可能源于整个灰质（gray matter）分布的协同性变化。