Unlocking Cognitive Potential: Investigating the Impact of a Single Short-Term Mindfulness Meditation Session on Working Memory in Medical Students.
Mamur Khan, Malaika Shakeel, Sana Muftah, Laiba Gul, Muhammad Talha, Fazlina Shaid, Zaryab Bacha, Saqib Hayat Khan, Muhammad Abdullah Ali, Ahmad Khan
Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback November 7, 2025 DOI: 10.1007/s10484-025-09746-6 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Quasi-experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 55 |
| Population | Medical students at Khyber Medical College, Peshawar |
| Intervention | Mindfulness meditation |
| Measures | Forward Digit Span test |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Short-term Working memory |
| Key findings | Short-term mindfulness meditation significantly improved working memory in medical students. |
Abstract
With the heavy academic demands for medical students, this research aimed to find the potential benefits of short-term mindfulness meditation in improving working memory among medical students, which may potentially have positive effects on their academics. Several previous studies have also shown the positive effects of mindfulness meditation in improving different cognitive functions, however, most of those studies studied the effects of long-term meditation. This study is unique because it studies the effectiveness of short-term meditation. To see the effects of a short-term mindfulness meditation practice on working memory among medical students at Khyber Medical College, Peshawar. In a quasi-experimental study, 55 medical students provided written consent to participate. The participants' working memory was assessed using the forward digit span test before a brief mindfulness meditation session. Following listening to a 10 min mindfulness audiotape, the forward digit span test was administered again. The pre- and post-meditation test scores were compared using SPSS software for statistical analysis. This study explored the pre- and post-meditation Forward Digit Span test scores. The improvements were extremely significant as per the T-test analysis (p = 0.00). On separate T-tests for each gender, it was found that females (p = 0.013) had a comparatively lesser increase in digit-span test scores than males (p = 0.003). However, both males and females showed improvements of significance. These findings imply the cognitive benefits of meditation practices for both genders. This research indicates that short-term mindfulness meditation improves the working memory of medical students. Evidence was obtained to suggest that mindfulness practice can improve working memory, which may have implications for enhancing the academic performance of medical students.
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 9
- Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2003
- How long does a mindfulness‐based stress reduction program need to be? A review of class contact hours and effect sizes for psychological distress Journal of Clinical Psychology March 23, 2009
- Gender differences in response to a school-based mindfulness training intervention for early adolescents. Journal of school psychology June 1, 2018
- Effect of one‐session focused attention meditation on the working memory capacity of meditation novices: A functional near‐infrared spectroscopy study Brain and Behavior August 1, 2021
- Randomized Controlled Trial of Mindfulness Meditation for Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Effects on Anxiety and Stress Reactivity The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry March 13, 2013
and 4 more in the library