The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of breathing meditation on cognitive function and
depression in an integrated cognitive enhancement program for the elderly, in which they practiced
breathing meditation as home training. Weekly 90 minute sessions were conducted over 10 weeks, and
the subjects were selected among senior citizens from the D Elderly Welfare Center in D city to
constitute an experimental group (n=10) of those who used breathing meditation as home training, a
comparative group (n=8) of those who used laughter therapy as home training, and a control group
(n=12) of those who did not practice home training. In this study, the MMSE-DS and SGDS were used
to measure cognitive function and depression respectively, before and after the program for each group.
The results of the study are as follows: First, the experimental group showed a statistically significant
increase in cognitive function compared to the comparative and control group. Second, the experimental
group showed a decrease in depression compared to the comparative and control group, but it was not
statistically significant. In conclusion, this study suggests that an integrated cognitive enhancement
program that uses breathing meditation as home training is effective in improving the cognitive function
of the elderly.