title: Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: evidence of brief mental training.
abstract: Although research has found that long-term mindfulness meditation practice promotes executive functioning and the ability to sustain attention, the effects of brief mindfulness meditation training have not been fully explored. We examined whether brief meditation training affects cognition and mood when compared to an active control group. After four sessions of either meditation training or listening to a recorded book, participants with no prior meditation experience were assessed with measures of mood, verbal fluency, visual coding, and working memory. Both interventions were effective at improving mood but only brief meditation training reduced fatigue, anxiety, and increased mindfulness. Moreover, brief mindfulness training significantly improved visuo-spatial processing, working memory, and executive functioning. Our findings suggest that 4days of meditation training can enhance the ability to sustain attention; benefits that have previously been reported with long-term meditators.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. fzeidan@wfubmc.edu
authors.forename: Fadel
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zeidan
authors.forename: Susan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Bruce J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.forename: Zhanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goolkasian
mesh_terms: D000339:Affect / Q000502:physiology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001364:Awareness / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D017008:Negotiating / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D055815:Young Adult