Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation
Yi-Yuan Tang, Yinghua Ma, Junhong Wang, Yaxin Fan, Shigang Feng, Qilin Lu, Qingbao Yu, Danni Sui, Mary K. Rothbart, Ming Fan, Michael I Posner
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences October 11, 2007 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0707678104 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 40 |
| Population | Undergraduate Chinese students |
| Intervention | Relaxation training |
| Dose | 20 min per session for 5 days |
| Duration | 5 days |
| Measures | Attention Network Test, Profile of Mood States |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 1,585 |
| Key findings | Five days of integrative body-mind training improved attention and reduced stress-related cortisol and negative mood states more than relaxation training alone. |
Abstract
Recent studies suggest that months to years of intensive and systematic meditation training can improve attention. However, the lengthy training required has made it difficult to use random assignment of participants to conditions to confirm these findings. This article shows that a group randomly assigned to 5 days of meditation practice with the integrative body-mind training method shows significantly better attention and control of stress than a similarly chosen control group given relaxation training. The training method comes from traditional Chinese medicine and incorporates aspects of other meditation and mindfulness training. Compared with the control group, the experimental group of 40 undergraduate Chinese students given 5 days of 20-min integrative training showed greater improvement in conflict scores on the Attention Network Test, lower anxiety, depression, anger, and fatigue, and higher vigor on the Profile of Mood States scale, a significant decrease in stress-related cortisol, and an increase in immunoreactivity. These results provide a convenient method for studying the influence of meditation training by using experimental and control methods similar to those used to test drugs or other interventions.