Characteristics of attentional bias in meditators: An ERP study.
Zhaoyang Xin, Fei Wang, Zilu Lu, Qiaoling Li
International Journal of Psychology April 2023 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12891 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 34 |
| Population | 16 Shaolin monks with meditation experience and 18 ordinary people without meditation experience |
| Measures | dot-probe task, P1 amplitude, P2 amplitude |
| Keywords | Erp Attentional bias Dot-probe task Meditator |
| Key findings | The control group showed attentional bias to angry faces, whereas the meditator group did not. Meditators had significantly smaller P1 amplitudes to emotional stimuli, and unlike controls, showed no P2 amplitude difference between angry-neutral and neutral-neutral faces. The authors argue that highly practiced meditation reduces attentional bias to negative information and fosters an "impartial" cognitive response to external information. |
Abstract
Attentional bias is closely related to individual mental health. To explore the effect of mindfulness meditation on attentional bias, we use the dot-probe task to measure and compare the attentional bias of 16 Shaolin monks with meditation experience (meditator group) and 18 ordinary people without meditation experience (control group). The results were as follows: (1) The control group showed attentional bias to anger stimuli, while the meditator group did not show attentional bias; (2) The P1 amplitude induced by emotion stimuli was significantly less in the meditator group than in the control group; (3) When the control group observed angry-neutral faces, the P2 amplitude was greater than when they saw neutral-neutral faces. In comparison, there was no significant difference in P2 amplitude when the meditator group viewed faces with different emotions. This leads us to contend that people highly practiced in meditation can reduce their attentional bias to negative information, and show the cognitive characteristics of "impartial" treatment to external information.
Citations in the library
Cites 6
- Brief Mindfulness Meditation Improves Emotion Processing Frontiers in Neuroscience October 10, 2019
- Positive Emotion Correlates of Meditation Practice: A Comparison of Mindfulness Meditation and Loving-kindness Meditation Mindfulness May 29, 2017
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- Impact of mindfulness on the neural responses to emotional pictures in experienced and beginner meditators. Neuroimage August 15, 2011
- Impact of meditation on emotional processing--a visual ERP study. Neuroscience Research June 13, 2011
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