States of focused attention and sequential action: A comparison of single session meditation and computerised attention task influences on top-down control during sequence learning.
Russell W Chan, Kurt Lushington, Maarten A. Immink
Acta Psychologica November 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2018.09.003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental comparison Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Meditation-naive individuals |
| Intervention | Focused-attention meditation (FAM) |
| Duration | Single session |
| Measures | serial reaction time task (SRTT) |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Attention Cognitive control Sequence learning Top-down control |
| Key findings | Both a single session of focused-attention meditation and a computerized attention task shortened reaction times on a serial reaction time task relative to rest, with greater reliance on stimulus-based planning. Focused-attention meditation also produced a faster rate of reaction-time improvement than the other conditions. The authors argue that meditation's focused-attention component enhances top-down control during sequence learning. |
Abstract
Motor sequence learning is considered the result of the outflow of information following cognitive control processes that are shared by other goal-directed behaviours. Emerging evidence suggests that focused-attention meditation (FAM) establishes states of enhanced cognitive control, that then exert top-down control biases in subsequent unrelated tasks. With respect to sequence learning, a single-session of FAM has been shown to entrain stimulus-dependent forms of sequential behaviour in meditation naïve individuals. In the present experiment, we compared single-session effects of FAM and a computerised attention task (CAT) to test if FAM-induced enhanced top-down control is generally comparable to cognitive tasks that require focused attention. We also investigated if effort, arousal or pleasure associated with FAM, or CAT explained the influence of these tasks on sequence learning. Relative to a rest-only control condition, both FAM and CAT resulted in shorter reaction time (RT) in a serial reaction time task (SRTT), and this enhanced RT performance was associated with higher reliance on stimulus-based planning as opposed to sequence representation formation. However, following FAM, a greater rate of improvement in RT performance was observed in comparison to both CAT and control conditions. Neither effort, arousal nor pleasure associated with FAM or CAT explained SRTT performance. These findings were interpreted to suggest that the effect of FAM states on increased top-down control during sequence learning is based on the focused attention control feature of this meditation. FAM states might be associated with enhanced cognitive control to promote the development of more efficient stimulus-response processing in comparison to states induced by other attentional tasks.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Focused-Attention Meditation Improves Flow, Communication Skills, and Safety Attitudes of Surgeons International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health April 27, 2022
- Short-term Focused Attention Meditation Restricts the Retrieval of Stimulus-Response Bindings to Relevant Information Mindfulness March 9, 2021
- Instantaneous effects of mindfulness meditation on tennis return performance in elite junior athletes completing an implicitly sequenced serve return task Frontiers in Sports and Active Living August 23, 2022
- The Influence of Focused Attention and Open Monitoring Mindfulness Meditation States on True and False Memory Journal of Cognitive Enhancement March 30, 2023
- Guided mindfulness meditation as a priming strategy for reducing anxiety and facilitating motor skill learning. Frontiers in Psychology 2026
and 1 more in the library
Cites 17
- Open hearts build lives: Positive emotions, induced through loving-kindness meditation, build consequential personal resources. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology October 27, 2008
- Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders American Journal of Psychiatry July 1, 1992
- Conceptual and methodological issues in research on mindfulness and meditation. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Investigating the phenomenological matrix of mindfulness-related practices from a neurocognitive perspective. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Neural mechanisms of attentional control in mindfulness meditation Frontiers in Neuroscience 2013
and 12 more in the library