The Effects Of Brief Meditation Training On Attention

Background and Objective:Meditation helps the individual maintain a neutral and non-judgmental attitude by regulating the individual’s emotions and attention,while mindfulness meditation(MM)is a subcategory of meditation practice,which aims to allow people to actively pay attention to the current behavioral and psychological states without prejudice.Previous studies have found that meditation could effectively improve attention ability,but it was only based on the attention system and did not differentiate attention ability,such as the orientation,alertness,and executive control in the attention network.In addition,there is also controversy about the effect of meditation training with a short-term intervention,like several weeks,on attention.This research intends to study the impact of brief meditation training on attention and its potential dimensions,and explore its possible mechanisms.Methods:In the current research,a prior design with a randomized control group vs.experimental group was adopted.According to the principle of complete randomization,126 armed police soldiers who met the selection criteria were randomly allocated to experimental group and control group at 1:1 ratio.For a continuous month,the experimental group received 15 minutes of brief meditation training every day,while the control group received 15 minutes of scientific knowledge listening about Chinese timber Nanmu every day.The Five facets mindfulness questionnaires(FFMQ),concentration and distribution of attention,E-prime attention network measurement and saliva cortisol concentration were carried out respectively both before and after the training paradigm.Results:1.Brief meditation training improves mindfulnessIn terms of the Five-facet mindfulness questionnaires(FFMQ),there is no significant difference in the pre-test scores between the experimental and the control groups.While in the post-test phase,the experimental group’s total FFMQ scores,total non-reaction scores,and average non-reaction scores were all higher than those of the control group.Moreover,the difference values(D-value)of post-test and pre-test regarding the total FFMQ score,the total non-reaction score,the average score of FFMQ,and the average score of perception are all higher in the experimental group when compared to the control group,and the difference is statistically significant.By comparing the D-value between the postand pre-tests within each separate group,it is found that the total FFMQ score,the total awareness score,the total descriptive score,and the average scores of total FFMQ,perception and descriptive during the post-test phase were higher than those of pre-test phase in the experimental group,and the difference was statistically significant.2.Brief meditation training improves the executive control of the attention networkIn the attention network task,the post-test scores regarding alertness in both of the control and experimental group are significantly higher than those in the pre-test phase.The executive control ability of the experimental group is significantly higher than that of the pre-test.The D-value of post-and pre-test in the experimental group is significantly lower than that of the control group.These results indicate brief meditation training specifically improves the executive control of the attention network.3.Brief meditation training improves the duration of attention and concentrationIn the concentration task,there is a significant difference in on-target time between the two groups,as well as the difference regarding the D-value of post-and pre-test between the two group,while the difference between groups in the number of off-target is not significant.4.Brief meditation training improves the distribution of attention to light stimuliIn the post-test of attention assignment task,the experimental group’s light correct reaction time and light correct frequencies are significantly better than the control group.The comparison of the D-value of post-and pre-test shows that the experimental group has a faster correct light reaction,and the frequency of correct light response is increased.Comparison of differences within each separate group suggest that the correct voice reaction time and the frequency of correct voice response to each segment are all better in the post-test than those of the pre-test.5.The effect of brief meditation training on saliva cortisolIn terms of saliva cortisol detection,the difference between the groups in the post-test is statistically significant.The elevated level of cortisol in the experimental group is significantly higher than that in the control group.However,due to the low effect size,it may have limited practical meaning.Conclusions:Brief meditation training can effectively improve the individual’s mindfulness level,and have a positive impact on the individual’s attention at the same time.It is mainly manifested in improving the individual’s ability to inhibit irrelevant information,improving the distribution of light stimuli and increasing the duration of attentional concentration.Therefore,brief meditation is a simple and effective way of mindfulness meditation practice,which may be used to train and improve the attention of the military and police.This research deepens the understanding of the mechanism of meditation,especially its effect on attention,promotes the comprehension of the relationship between meditation and cognitive functions,and provides a reference for the targeted use of meditation to improve attention.It has important practical significance and theoretical value.