Meditation and attention: A controlled study on long-term meditators in behavioral performance and event-related potentials of attentional control

Jo, Han-Gue; Schmidt, Stefan; Inacker, Elisa; Markowiak, Michael; Hinterberger, Thilo

doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2015.11.016

Cited by 42 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Post hoc comparisons showed that the group difference is mainly due to incongruent trials (controls: mean ER = 5.676%, SE = 1.061; meditators: mean = 2.417%, SE = 0.515) than congruent trials (controls: mean ER = 1.238%, SE = 0.315; meditators: mean = 0.852%, SE = 0.254). Therefore, these results indicate that meditators responded more accurately than controls irrespective of RTs, especially after conflicts (see also Figure 3 in Jo et al, 2016). …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Thus, on the behavioral level, irrespective of response timing, the accuracy after conflicts was significantly better in meditators than in controls. The higher amplitude of the parietal P3 component has provided neural evidence for this behavioral efficiency in meditators (see Figure 6 in Jo et al, 2016). P3 amplitude was closely aligned to target stimulus onset, suggesting increased attentional engagement to an attended central target.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Since the present study focused on response conflict effects, the trials were only analyzed according to congruency, which allow the estimation of an individual conflict effect irrespective of the particular cueing condition (Fan et al, 2002). Behavioral data and ERP analyses in respect of cueing conditions can be found in Jo et al (2016). In brief, whereas cueing conditions revealed no group effect, compared to the control group, mindfulness meditators showed fewer error responses and exhibited higher parietal P3 amplitude during incongruent trials irrespective of response timing.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is expected that individuals who regularly engage in meditation practices that include mindfulness techniques would increase the awareness of their motor intention (Jo et al, 2014, 2015) and show enhanced skills in controlling motor responses. For instance, recent studies on conflict effects using the flanker-type attention network test (ANT, Fan et al, 2002; see Figure 1) showed fewer error responses among meditators than non-meditators (van den Hurk et al, 2010; Jo et al, 2016). This was particularly the case for incongruent trials, in which interference is created during the response selection stage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We examined whether mindfulness meditators who have shown greater efficiency in a response conflict task (Jo et al, 2016; Figure 2) would also display differences in MFC theta power and/or MFC-centered theta network compared to a control group in trials where they showed increased response accuracy after conflicts. Based on previous indications that the MFC-centered theta network is more relevant for error-related processing, we assumed that behavioral efficiency (indexed by fewer error responses) is primarily associated with the MFC-centered theta network rather than MFC theta power.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Frontal Theta Dynamics during Response Conflict in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators

Malinowski

Schmidt

2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Mindfulness meditators often show greater efficiency in resolving response conflicts than non-meditators. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the improved behavioral efficiency are unclear. Here, we investigated frontal theta dynamics—a neural mechanism involved in cognitive control processes—in long-term mindfulness meditators. The dynamics of EEG theta oscillations (4–8 Hz) recorded over the medial frontal cortex (MFC) were examined in terms of their power (MFC theta power) and their functional connectivity with other brain areas (the MFC-centered theta network). Using a flanker-type paradigm, EEG data were obtained from 22 long-term mindfulness meditators and compared to those from 23 matched controls without meditation experience. Meditators showed more efficient cognitive control after conflicts, evidenced by fewer error responses irrespective of response timing. Furthermore, meditators exhibited enhanced conflict modulations of the MFC-centered theta network shortly before the response, in particular for the functional connection between the MFC and the motor cortex. In contrast, MFC theta power was comparable between groups. These results suggest that the higher behavioral efficiency after conflicts in mindfulness meditators could be a function of increased engagement to control the motor system in association with the MFC-centered theta network.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Frontal Theta Dynamics during Response Conflict in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators

Malinowski

Schmidt

2017

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Lifestyle factors and their impact on the networks of attention

McCormick

2021

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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In 2002, Fan and his colleagues developed the Attention Network Test (ANT), a cognitive tool that provides a score for each of the attentional networks (alerting, orienting, and executive functioning). Since publication, this study has been cited over 3 500 times. The authors state one of the indicated uses of this tool is to measure how different interventions, both behavioral and pharmacological, influence the networks of attention. The present review focuses on this premise and investigates how various aspects of lifestyle differently impact the networks of attention.Whether trying to optimize the attentional networks to improve cognitive performance, or to prevent the cognitive decline that occurs with age, this review summarizes what practices promote efficiency within the alerting, orienting, and executive functioning networks. The specific areas of lifestyle this review focuses on are meditation, exercise, drug use, sleep, and environmental or social factors.

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Event‐related potential patterns of selective attention modulated by perceptual load

et al. 2023

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Introduction:A high perceptual load can effectively prevent attention from being drawn to irrelevant stimuli; however, the neural pattern underlying this process remains unclear. Methods:This study adopted a perceptual load paradigm to examine the temporal processes of attentional modulation by incorporating conditions of perceptual load, distractor-target compatibility, and eccentricity. Results:The behavioral results showed that a high perceptual load significantly reduced attentional distraction caused by peripheral distractors. The event-related potential results further revealed that shorter P2 latencies were observed for peripheral distractors than for central distractors under a high perceptual load and that a suppressed compatibility effect with increasing load was reflected by the P3 component. Conclusion:These findings suggested that (1) P2 and P3 components effectively captured different sides of attentional processing modulated by load (i.e., the filter processing of the object and the overall attentional resource allocation) and (2) response patterns of selective attention modulated by perceptual load were influenced by eccentricity. Our electrophysiological evidence confirmed the behavioral findings, indicating the neural mechanisms of attentional modulation.

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Meditation and attention: A controlled study on long-term meditators in behavioral performance and event-related potentials of attentional control

Cited by 42 publications

References 36 publications

Frontal Theta Dynamics during Response Conflict in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators

Frontal Theta Dynamics during Response Conflict in Long-Term Mindfulness Meditators

Lifestyle factors and their impact on the networks of attention

Event‐related potential patterns of selective attention modulated by perceptual load

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