title: What Confucius practiced is good for your mind: Examining the effect of a contemplative practice in Confucian tradition on executive functions.
abstract: The short-term training effects on various executive functions (EFs) by a movement-based contemplative practice (MBCP) are examined. Three aspects of EFs (working memory capacity, inhibition, switching) are assessed before and after a month-long 12-h training period using Body-Mind Axial Awareness (BMAA) principles that Confucius followers have practiced for more than 2000years. A mindfulness-based practice (Chan-meditation) and a waiting-list control group served as contrast groups. Our results showed that the BMAA group performed better on the task that measured working memory capacity than did the Chan-meditation and the waiting-list groups after training. In addition, the Chan-meditation groups outperformed the control group on attentional switching, a novel finding for this kind of practice. Our findings not only show a new effect of short-term MBCPs on EFs, but also indicate movement-based and mindfulness-based contemplative practices might benefit development of various aspects of EFs in different ways.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shan-Chuan
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: ywlien@ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Yunn-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Lien
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032903:Confucianism / Q000523:psychology*; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019122:Meditation / Q000523:psychology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064866:Mindfulness; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Executive function; Meditation; Mindfulness training; Movement-based contemplative training; The body-mind axis; Ya-Yue