Mindfulness meditation and bimanual coordination control: study of acute effects and the mediating role of cognition
Frontiers in Psychology May 15, 2023 Louise Devillers-Réolon, J. Temprado, Rita Sleimen-Malkoun
A 15-minute mindfulness meditation session, involving breathing and open monitoring, improved the ability of both meditation-naïve and experienced participants to maintain an anti-phase bimanual coordination pattern at maximal speed and to delay or suppress the spontaneous transition to an in-phase pattern. Both groups also showed improved attentional performance and motor inhibition scores after meditation, but not after an active control condition (listening to a documentary podcast). No effects were found on perceptual inhibition, and the increase in motor inhibition did not statistically mediate the improvements in bimanual coordination control. The findings suggest acute motor benefits from a single meditation session regardless of prior meditation experience.