Effect of Brief Meditation Intervention on Attention: An ERP Investigation
Manvi Jain, C. M. Markan
arXiv Preprint Archive September 26, 2022 preprint
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 26 |
| Population | Novice participants who do not regularly meditate |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Duration | 10-minute intervention |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Q-bio.nc Cognitive-neuroscience Attention Mental-performance |
| Key findings | Ten minutes of meditation improved response time and accuracy on the Stroop task and led to more efficient attentional resource allocation as indicated by changes in ERP components. |
Abstract
Fast and efficient strategies for modulation of attention have been extensively studied recently. The present study has attempted to observe the effect of brief meditation practices on executive control of the attention system. The study recruits cognitive control by introducing conflict using Stroop task in twenty-six novice participants. Behavioral responses indicate a positive effect on response time and accuracy at Stroop task after ten minutes of meditation intervention. Neurophysiological findings suggest more efficient allocation of attentional resources. An increase in positive ERP components (P200, P300) and expected decrease in the inhibitory or negative component (N200) after intervention shows positive results. The findings suggest a positive impact of meditation intervention on attention even for brief periods in non-meditating population.
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 |