What Confucius practiced is good for your mind: Examining the effect of a contemplative practice in Confucian tradition on executive functions.

A month-long, 12-hour movement-based contemplative practice called Body-Mind Axial Awareness (BMAA), rooted in Confucian traditions, improved working memory capacity more than Chan-meditation or a waiting-list control. Chan-meditation, but not BMAA, improved attentional switching compared to the control group. No differences were found for inhibition. The findings suggest that movement-based and mindfulness-based practices may enhance different aspects of executive functions in distinct ways.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The short-term training effects on various executive functions (EFs) by a movement-based contemplative practice (MBCP) are examined. Three aspects of EFs (working memory capacity, inhibition, switching) are assessed before and after a month-long 12-h training period using Body-Mind Axial Awareness (BMAA) principles that Confucius followers have practiced for more than 2000years. A mindfulness-based practice (Chan-meditation) and a waiting-list control group served as contrast groups. Our results showed that the BMAA group performed better on the task that measured working memory capacity than did the Chan-meditation and the waiting-list groups after training. In addition, the Chan-meditation groups outperformed the control group on attentional switching, a novel finding for this kind of practice. Our findings not only show a new effect of short-term MBCPs on EFs, but also indicate movement-based and mindfulness-based contemplative practices might benefit development of various aspects of EFs in different ways.