Mindfulness training enhances face working memory: evidence from the drift-diffusion model
Hui Kou, Wei Luo, Xiaodong Li, Jia Wu, Qianguo Xiao, Taiyong Bi
npj Science of Learning December 9, 2025 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-025-00389-0 (opens in new tab) via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractA five-week emotion-targeted mindfulness training program improved working memory for facial expressions of happiness, sadness, anger, and neutrality, but not fear, in a study of 120 participants. The improvements lasted at least one month. Drift-diffusion modeling revealed that the training increased the efficiency of information processing (drift rate) across all emotional categories, and these increases correlated with accuracy gains. The findings suggest mindfulness training enhances both the accuracy and speed of visual working memory processing, independent of the specific emotion displayed.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Randomized controlled trial Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 120 |
| Population | Adults (no further description provided) |
| Intervention | Emotion-targeted mindfulness training |
| Duration | 5-week intervention, 1-month follow-up |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cognition Task project management Working memory training Cognitive training |
| Key finding | Five-week emotion-targeted mindfulness training improved working memory accuracy for happy, sad, angry, and neutral faces, but not fearful faces, with gains persisting at one-month follow-up, and drift-diffusion modeling showed increased processing efficiency (drift rate) across all emotions. |
Abstract
The effect of mindfulness training on working memory is unclear. The current study sought to confirm the impact of mindfulness training on working memory for facial stimuli and to reveal the cognitive mechanisms underlying this effect by using drift-diffusion modeling (DDM). Using a delayed match-to-sample task with facial stimuli, we measured memory performance across five emotional categories (happy, sad, fearful, angry, neutral). Sixty participants received five-week emotion-targeted mindfulness training versus 60 waitlist controls. Assessments pre-training, post-training, and at one-month follow-up revealed significantly improved memory accuracy for all emotions except fear, with the effects persisting for one month. More importantly, drift-diffusion modeling showed increased drift rates across emotional categories post-training. Furthermore, accuracy improvements strongly correlated with drift rate enhancements within each emotion category. These findings demonstrate that mindfulness training induces lasting improvements in both accuracy and processing efficiency of visual working memory, independent of facial emotions, clarifying its cognitive mechanisms.