Abstract
Mindfulness is understood as a state or practice of guiding attention to the present moment without judgment. While some studies on mindfulness-based interventions demonstrate beneficial effects on cognitive functions (e.g. Chiesa et al., 2011; Yakobi et al., 2021) it still appears challenging to identify underlying mechanisms due to the wide range of research designs and dependent measures used, as well as the frequent absence of active control conditions. Relatedly, processes underlying the effects of short inductions of a mindful state may be unspecific to mindfulness and attainable through other means, such as relaxation (Fell et al., 2010).Therefore, the current study compared the effects of a brief mindfulness induction with a relaxation induction (via progressive muscle relaxation; active control condition) and listening to podcasts (passive control condition) in a pre-post experimental design. 78 participants without recent meditation experience were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions (mindfulness = 25; progressive muscle relaxation = 24; podcast listening = 30) and received corresponding instructions for a total of 40 minutes (2 × 20 minutes) a maximum of 3 days apart. Executive functions of inhibition, updating and switching as well as attentional networks were assessed with the continuous performance task, n-back task, number-letter task, and attention network task, respectively.While updating and executive attention similarly benefited from meditation and relaxation compared to podcast listening, inhibition and shifting measures indicate differential effects of mindfulness induction. Alerting and orienting were not affected by any induction. Implications for mechanisms underlying the effects of mindfulness are discussed.
Highlights
While updating and executive attention benefited from meditation and relaxation compared to podcast listening, inhibition and shifting measures indicate differential effects of mindfulness induction
Comparing the effects of a short meditation practice using integrative body-mind training (IBMT, which comprises relaxation, breathing practice and mental imagery) versus a relaxation training, Tang et al (2007) found no group differences on the ANT for alerting or orienting, but higher scores in the IBMT group for executive attention. While these findings suggest that a combined meditation and relaxation training is more beneficial for executive attention than a pure relaxation training, it is difficult to specify the impact of meditation alone
The results indicate that inducing relaxation through progressive muscle relaxation technique (PMR) increased discriminability and reduced errors of omission compared to both mindfulness and podcast listening
Summary
While updating and executive attention benefited from meditation and relaxation compared to podcast listening, inhibition and shifting measures indicate differential effects of mindfulness induction. Several models of mindfulness that specify components of a mindful state and underlying mechanisms have been proposed (e.g., Bishop et al, 2004; Hölzel et al, 2011; Malinowski, 2013; Shapiro et al, 2006) All of these models include attention regulation as a component, as there is consensus that attention regulation and executive control are required for guiding and maintaining attentional focus on a task within any meditation practice. All of the described models consider improved attentional processes by way of improved sustained attention and better monitoring as well as more effective executive functioning (e.g., inhibiting irrelevant content, shifting between task sets; see Suchy, 2009; Miyake et al, 2000) as possible mechanisms contributing to the effects of mindfulness training. FAM should narrow attentional focus and strengthen topdown attentional control whereas OMM should widen attentional focus and reduce attentional control (Lippelt et al, 2014; for empirical results see below)
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