The effect of neuroeducational methods on telomere length dynamics

Introduction
Telomere length is one of the most reliable indicators of biological ageing at the cellular level, and shortening of the telomere is an indicator of oxidative stress. Telomere length is associated with the capacity of the immune system responsible for protection against infectious and non-infectious diseases.

Aim of the research
The evaluation of the effect of neuroeducational methods on individuals’ biological age, as indicated by telomere shortening, compared to a control group.

Material and methods
The study was conducted on 20 relatively healthy subjects aged 23–59 years. The data summarise the findings on the length of telomeres in the neuroeducational and control groups before and after the 6-month intervention. The experimental group had regular (20 h/month) neuroeducational sessions. HT-Q-FISH (LifeLength, Spain) was used to measure the median telomere length (TL).

Results
The main finding of this study was that while telomere shortening within 6 months was significant in the control group (median telomere length before the survey was 11.05 kb (min. 9.5 kb; max. 12 kb) and after the study 10.50 kb (min. 9.1 kb; max. 11.4 kb) – p < 0.05), there was no significant change in telomere length in the experimental group – 10.40 kb (min. 9.4 kb; max. 11.6 kb) before the study and 10.45 kb (min. 9 kb; max. 11.5 kb) after the survey – p > 0.05.

Conclusions
Slower telomere shortening is positively associated with neuroeducational sessions and may affect some biochemical pathways associated with stress-induced mechanisms, and also may contribute to the “decreased aging” phenotype.