Meditation Training Supports Attention and Performance During High Cognitive Load
Simay Selek, Russell W Chan, Funda Yildirim
Research Square April 1, 2026 preprint DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9014164/v1 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cross-sectional comparison (trial-level mixed-effects modeling) Longitudinal |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 50 |
| Population | 25 experienced meditators and 25 meditation-naive controls |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Experienced meditators had higher overall accuracy and faster response times than meditation-naive controls on a modified Stroop task with affective auditory distraction. The advantage was consistent across congruent and incongruent trials, with no Group × Congruency interaction, which the authors interpret as greater baseline attentional stability and more efficient cognitive resource allocation. Both groups showed slightly higher accuracy on incongruent trials, possibly reflecting increased engagement under conflict or a speed–accuracy adjustment. |
Abstract
Abstract Meditation is increasingly recognized as a structured form of mental training that can induce plastic changes in neural systems supporting attention, cognitive control, and affect regulation. Although prior work links meditation to improved executive functioning, few studies have examined attentional performance under simultaneous cognitive conflict and emotional distraction. This study investigated whether experienced meditators outperform meditation-naive individuals on a modified Stroop task with affective auditory stimuli. Fifty participants (25 meditators, 25 controls) completed a number enumeration Stroop task in which congruent and incongruent trials were presented alongside emotionally salient sounds varying in valence and arousal. Accuracy and response time were analyzed using trial-level mixed-effects models. Results showed that meditators had higher overall accuracy and faster responses than controls. The absence of a Group × Congruency interaction indicates that the advantage was consistent across trial types, suggesting greater baseline attentional stability and more efficient allocation of cognitive resources. Both groups showed slightly higher accuracy on incongruent trials, potentially reflecting increased attentional engagement under conflict or a modest speed–accuracy adjustment. Meditators maintained superior performance despite emotional distraction, supporting the idea that meditation strengthens executive control under cognitive and affective load. These findings highlight the potential of meditation to enhance attentional efficiency and resilience in complex environments. Future longitudinal studies with targeted affective manipulations are needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying these benefits.
Comparable studies
Other non-randomized and open-label trials on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Relation to Quality of Life, Mood, Symptoms of Stress, and Immune Parameters in Breast and Prostate Cancer Outpatients Early-stage breast and prostate cancer patients | 2003 | Pre-post intervention study | n = 59 |
| Exploring self‐compassion and empathy in the context of mindfulness‐based stress reduction (MBSR) Community sample | 2010 | Pre-post intervention study | |
| Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Lowers Psychological Distress In Medical Students Second-year medical students | 2003 | Prospective nonrandomized cohort-controlled study | n = 302 |
| Intensive meditation training, immune cell telomerase activity, and psychological mediators. Retreat participants and matched controls | 2011 | Controlled trial with wait-list control group | n = 60 |
| The Effectiveness of Mindfulness Training for Children with ADHD and Mindful Parenting for their Parents Children aged 8-12 with ADHD and their parents | 2011 | Within-group waitlist controlled trial | n = 22 |
Citations in the library
Cites 7
- Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise PLoS One March 25, 2008
- Effects of Meditation Experience on Functional Connectivity of Distributed Brain Networks Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- Mental Training as a Tool in the Neuroscientific Study of Brain and Cognitive Plasticity Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2011
- Mechanisms of Mindfulness Training: Monitor and Acceptance Theory (MAT) Clinical Psychology Review November 5, 2016
- Meditation, mindfulness and executive control: the importance of emotional acceptance and brain-based performance monitoring. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience April 15, 2012
and 2 more in the library