Age effects on attentional blink performance in meditation.
Sara Van Leeuwen, Notger G Müller, Lucia Melloni
Consciousness and Cognition September 2009 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2009.05.001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Long-term meditation practitioners from an older population, age-matched non-meditating controls, and young non-meditating controls |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Measures | attentional blink task |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Long-term meditation practice was associated with a reduction of the attentional blink: older practitioners showed a smaller blink than younger controls, whereas age-matched non-meditating controls showed a comparatively larger and broader blink. The authors argue this supports the hypothesis that meditation can alter attentional resource distribution and help overcome age-related attentional deficits in the temporal domain. |
Abstract
Here we explore whether mental training in the form of meditation can help to overcome age-related attentional decline. We compared performance on the attentional blink task between three populations: A group of long-term meditation practitioners within an older population, a control group of age-matched participants and a control group of young participants. Members of both control groups had never practiced meditation. Our results show that long-term meditation practice leads to a reduction of the attentional blink. Meditation practitioners taken from an older population showed a reduction in blink as compared to a control group taken from a younger population, whereas, the control group age-matched to the meditators' group revealed a blink that was comparatively larger and broader. Our results support the hypothesis that meditation practice can: (i) alter the efficiency with which attentional resources are distributed and (ii) help to overcome age-related attentional deficits in the temporal domain.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Self-Report Assessment Methods to Explore Facets of Mindfulness Undergraduate students | 2006 | Observational cohort | |
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Participants with extensive Insight meditation experience and matched controls | 2005 | Observational cohort | n = 20 |
| Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Experienced meditators and matched meditation-naive controls | 2011 | Observational cohort | |
| Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Long-term Buddhist practitioners and controls | 2004 | Observational cohort |
Citations in the library
Cited by 52
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- The psychological effects of meditation: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin May 14, 2012
- Conceptual and methodological issues in research on mindfulness and meditation. American Psychologist October 1, 2015
- Regular, brief mindfulness meditation practice improves electrophysiological markers of attentional control Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2012
- From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews September 1, 2021
and 47 more in the library
Cites 11
- Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness Neuroreport November 7, 2005
- Short-term meditation training improves attention and self-regulation Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences October 11, 2007
- Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 8, 2004
- Neural correlates of attentional expertise in long-term meditation practitioners Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences June 28, 2007
- Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources PLoS Biology May 4, 2007
and 6 more in the library