Abstract
Mindfulness interventions have been linked to improved sport performance and executive functions; however, few studies have explored the effects of mindfulness on sport performance and executive functions simultaneously. This study sought to examine whether a mindfulness training program would affect both the endurance performance and executive functions of athletes. In addition, event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with the Stroop task were assessed to investigate the potential electrophysiological activation associated with the mindfulness training. Applying a quasiexperimental design, forty-six university athletes were recruited and assigned into a five-week mindfulness training program or a waiting list control group. For each participant, the mindfulness level, endurance performance assessed by a graded exercise test, executive functions assessed via Stroop task, and N2 component of ERPs were measured prior to and following the 5-week intervention. After adjusting for the preintervention scores as a covariate, it was found that the postintervention mindfulness level, exhaustion time, and Stroop task accuracy scores, regardless of task condition, of the mindfulness group were higher than those of the control group. The mindfulness group also exhibited a smaller N2 amplitude than the control group. These results suggest that the five-week mindfulness program can enhance the mindfulness level, endurance performance, and multiple cognitive functions, including executive functions, of university athletes. Mindfulness training may also reduce conflict monitoring in neural processes.
Highlights
IntroductionMindfulness, a concept that originated from Buddhist meditation practices and was later developed and adapted by various scholars [1, 2], has been described as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” ([3], p. 145) and “a process of openly attending, with awareness, to one’s present moment experience” ([4], p. 493), with the essential processes of mindfulness involving awareness, open-minded attention, being present in the moment, and nonjudgment.Mindfulness can be cultivated through thought training, and accumulated rigorous evidence has indicated that mindfulness-based interventions can enhance physical health, mental health, cognitive and affective outcomes, and interpersonal outcomes [4].Successful sport performances in high-level competitions require harmony among the given athlete’s physiological, psychological, and interpersonal capacities and readiness, with mindfulness potentially affecting an athlete’s ability to achieve peak performances
Mindfulness can be cultivated through thought training, and accumulated rigorous evidence has indicated that mindfulness-based interventions can enhance physical health, mental health, cognitive and affective outcomes, and interpersonal outcomes [4]
Given that the errorrelated negativity (ERN) amplitude has been linked to the anterior cingulate cortex, a brain region implicated in executive functions, these findings suggest that mindfulness affects specific brain regions to enhance executive functioning
Summary
Mindfulness, a concept that originated from Buddhist meditation practices and was later developed and adapted by various scholars [1, 2], has been described as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment” ([3], p. 145) and “a process of openly attending, with awareness, to one’s present moment experience” ([4], p. 493), with the essential processes of mindfulness involving awareness, open-minded attention, being present in the moment, and nonjudgment.Mindfulness can be cultivated through thought training, and accumulated rigorous evidence has indicated that mindfulness-based interventions can enhance physical health, mental health, cognitive and affective outcomes, and interpersonal outcomes [4].Successful sport performances in high-level competitions require harmony among the given athlete’s physiological, psychological, and interpersonal capacities and readiness, with mindfulness potentially affecting an athlete’s ability to achieve peak performances. Mindfulness has been found to be positively associated with flow in athletes, regardless of gender or sport type [9, 10], and mindfulness-based interventions have been demonstrated to enhance sport-associated physiological activations (e.g., salivary cortisol levels and immune responses) and psychological status indicators (e.g., flow and anxiety reduction), as well as sport performances themselves (e.g., shooting and dart throwing performances) [7]. It should be noted, that the majority of sport studies regarding mindfulness have emphasized either mindfulness-related physiological or psychological aspects of fine motor performance (e.g., shooting), with few studies investigating gross motor performance (e.g., running) [11]
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