Behavioral and Electrophysiological Evidence of Enhanced Performance Monitoring in Meditators
Catherine I. Andreu, Cristóbal Moënne-Loccoz, Vladimir Lopez, Heleen A. Slagter, Ingmar H. A. Franken, Diego Cosmelli
Mindfulness December 1, 2017 DOI: 10.1007/s12671-017-0732-z (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Meditators and non-meditator athletes |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Performance monitoring Error-related negativity Cognitive control EEG |
| Key findings | Meditators showed enhanced performance monitoring, indicated by fewer errors and larger error-related and correct-related negativity amplitudes compared to non-meditator athletes. |
Abstract
Performance monitoring—the ability to monitor ongoing performance to detect and correct errors—is a core component of cognitive control. Impairments in performance monitoring have been associated with several psychiatric disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and substance use disorder. Recent research indicates that the practice of meditation, as a mental training technique, may improve cognitive control. However, if and to what extent regular long-term meditation practice may enhance performance monitoring is currently unknown. The present study examined effects of meditation practice on behavioral and electrophysiological indices of performance monitoring. A group of meditators and an experience-matched active control group (non-meditator athletes) performed an Eriksen-Flanker task while their brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography (EEG). Behaviorally, meditators made significantly fewer errors than controls on incongruent trials. EEG analyses revealed a general increase in the amplitude of two brain potentials associated with performance monitoring—the error negativity (Ne) or error-related negativity (ERN) and correct-related negativity (CRN)—in meditators compared to controls. These findings, which are indicative of enhanced performance monitoring in meditators, corroborate the idea that meditation could be a recommendable practice to train and improve cognitive control, specifically performance monitoring.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 9
- Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity Frontiers in Human Neuroscience October 9, 2018
- From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2021
- Mindfulness meditators show altered distributions of early and late neural activity markers of attention in a response inhibition task PLoS One August 6, 2019
- On Variation in Mindfulness Training: A Multimodal Study of Brief Open Monitoring Meditation on Error Monitoring Brain Sciences September 6, 2019
- Meditators probably show increased behaviour-monitoring related neural activity bioRxiv Preprint Server July 7, 2022
and 4 more in the library
Cites 31
- Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Assessment January 27, 2006
- Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences October 11, 2007
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
- Conceptual and methodological issues in research on mindfulness and meditation. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
and 26 more in the library