A comparative study of time perception in long-term meditators and non-meditators.
Aanchal Sankhla, Samridhi Pareek, Gagan Jain
Acta Psychologica June 1, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.106988 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 30 |
| Population | Practicing meditators and non-meditators |
| Intervention | Naad Brahma meditation |
| Duration | 11-minute session |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Passage of time Temporal bisection Time perception |
| Key findings | Meditators estimated the retrospective interval more accurately than non-meditators, but no group differences emerged in prospective time perception or subjective passage of time. |
Abstract
This study investigates how mindfulness meditation influences time perception by comparing practicing meditators and non-meditators (n = 30) on retrospective and prospective timing tasks. Retrospective time perception was assessed after an 11-min session of Naad Brahma meditation (for meditators) or listening to an audio story (for controls). Prospective time estimation was measured using rhythmically ambiguous music, with participants indicating perceived durations of 40 s, 3 min, and 8 min. Results showed that meditators estimated the retrospective interval more accurately than nonmeditators; however, given the exploratory design and limited power, this finding should be interpreted as preliminary and not as evidence of a causal effect of meditation practice. No group differences emerged in prospective time perception or subjective passage of time. Additionally, emotional states were evaluated, and meditators were found to be significantly happier than non-meditators, but no other significant differences in emotional states were found. The outcomes tentatively suggest that while meditative state does refine some aspects of temporal cognition, particularly in retrospective judgments, its effect on prospective time perception could not be established. The findings contribute to the growing evidence that meditation enhances specific cognitive domains related to time awareness, particularly those that depend on memory and attentional allocation.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cites 10
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Alterations in the sense of time, space and body in the Mindfulness-trained brain: A neurophenomenologically-guided MEG study Frontiers in Psychology May 22, 2014
- Moments in Time Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience 2011
- Awareness of the passage of time and self-consciousness: What do meditators report? PsyCh Journal March 1, 2019
- Mindfulness meditation, time judgment and time experience: Importance of the time scale considered (seconds or minutes) PLoS One October 18, 2019
and 5 more in the library