The effects of meditation on attention
Qi HE, Haiying Wang
Advances in Psychological Science January 6, 2020 DOI: 10.3724/sp.j.1042.2020.00284 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Long-term meditators, clinical groups with attention-related disorders (including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients and formerly depressed patients), and healthy groups of varying ages (including children and older adults) |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Citations | 4 |
| Key findings | The authors argue that attention regulation is the common mechanism across divergent meditation methods and that meditation can improve sustained, executive, and selective attention. They report that long-term meditators show higher mismatch negativity amplitude and lower beta power, and that meditation strengthens central executive and salience network function while reducing default-mode network activation during focused attention practice. They contend these benefits extend to clinical and healthy groups across ages. |
Abstract
Regulation of attention is a commonality across the many divergent meditation methods, with attention being the main mechanism of meditation. Recent research has found that meditation can improve sustained attention, executive attention and selective attentional allocation. Cognitive neuroscientific research findings showed that meditation enabled more efficient use of attentional resources, and long-term meditators showed higher mismatch negativity amplitude and lower β power. Meditation enhanced the functional connection of the central executive network and strengthened the activation in the salience network. Focused attention meditation weakened activation of the default-mode network. In addition, the positive effects of meditation on attention were applicable to clinical groups with attention-related disorders, such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder patients and formerly depressed patients, as well as health groups of varying ages, such as children and older adults. Further follow-up studies need to be conducted to determine the lasting effects of meditation, as well as studies exploring the interaction between attention and emotion in meditation. Moreover, it is important to design more targeted meditation programs according to the characteristics of the group.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |