The Breadth of Mindful Breath: Modulating Cognitive Performance and Oscillatory EEG Activity through Repeated Mindfulness
July 1, 2025 Stuart, Kara Renee Elizabeth
A three-week mindfulness-based intervention delivered remotely improved episodic source memory accuracy and enhanced interference resolution on the Stroop task, compared with an active control group that listened to relaxing music. Working memory accuracy improved in both groups, with a descriptive advantage for the mindfulness group. EEG recordings showed increases in theta, alpha, and low beta power at right prefrontal and left parietal sites during the source memory task, paralleling the behavioral gains. No significant EEG changes were observed during the Stroop task. The findings suggest that brief mindfulness training can sharpen specific cognitive functions and modulate neural activity in attention- and memory-related regions, and demonstrate the feasibility of remote cognitive-neuroscience research.