Frontiers in Psychology
January 1, 2024
Masahiro Fujino, Yuuki Ooishi, Yoshiyuki Ueda et al.
3 citations
Thirty minutes of focused attention or open monitoring meditation reduces the tendency to inhibit distracting face images during a cognitive interference task, as shown by the persistence of the mere exposure effect—where repeated exposure increases preference—only in meditation groups. In a control group, the mere exposure effect disappeared, indicating that distractors were inhibited. A positive correlation between the mere exposure effect and state relaxation, and a negative correlation with state anxiety, were found only in the focused attention meditation group, suggesting different mechanisms for reducing inhibition between the two meditation types.
medRxiv
August 19, 2025
Jun Takezawa, Sinong Geng, Masahiro Fujino et al.
preprint
An observational study using smartwatches and smartphone surveys tracked 90 people for three weeks: 19 regular meditators, 32 recreational runners, and 39 controls with no regular exercise or meditation. Although meditators reported lower stress than controls on questionnaires, their overall heart rate variability (HRV) in daily life was not higher. However, during actual meditation sessions, HRV increased by about 4.7 milliseconds, and this effect lasted at least 30 minutes afterward. In contrast, runners showed both lower stress and higher daily HRV than controls. Across all groups, higher momentary stress was linked to a small concurrent drop in HRV. The findings suggest meditation may offer a way to temporarily boost HRV, which could contribute to stress reduction, but more controlled research is needed.
Journal of Medical Internet Research
May 29, 2026
Jo Takezawa, Shixian Geng, Masahiro Fujino et al.
Meditation practice is associated with lower subjective stress, though its effects on heart rate variability (HRV), a physiological marker of stress, are more nuanced. In a 3-week observational study of 90 participants—19 meditation practitioners, 32 recreational runners, and 39 controls—stress levels were significantly lower in both the meditation and running groups compared with controls. However, only the running group showed elevated HRV in daily life. During meditation sessions, HRV acutely increased by 4.68 milliseconds, with effects lasting at least 30 minutes post-practice. Higher subjective stress was linked to a concurrent reduction in HRV across all groups. The findings suggest meditation may increase HRV at specific times, potentially contributing to stress reduction, but this requires further study.
Scientific Reports
July 2, 2018
Masahiro Fujino, Yoshiyuki Ueda, H. Mizuhara et al.
Both focused attention meditation (FAM) and open monitoring meditation (OMM) reduce functional connectivity between the striatum and the posterior cingulate cortex, a core hub of the default mode network (DMN). OMM specifically reduces connectivity of the ventral striatum with the visual cortex (linked to intentional focused attention) and the retrosplenial cortex (linked to memory in the DMN), while FAM increases connectivity in these regions. The findings suggest that OMM reduces intentional focused attention and increases detachment from autobiographical memory, which may underlie the non-judgmental and non-reactive attitude cultivated during this practice.