Mindfulness meditators do not show differences in electrophysiological measures of error processing

Abstract

Mindfulness meditation may improve attention and self-regulation. One component of attention and self-regulation that may allow these improvements is performance monitoring. Neural correlates of performance monitoring can be objectively measured with electroencephalogram (EEG) via the error related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe). Previous research assessing the ERN and Pe in meditators has resulted in inconsistent findings; some have reported alteration in peak amplitudes from both very brief meditation practice and long-term meditation practice, while others have failed to provide evidence for differences in the ERN or Pe. However, recently developed EEG analysis techniques allow for more rigorous analyses than have been used in past investigations. The current study measured the ERN and Pe, as well as post-error alpha suppression, during a Go/Nogo task, and emotional and colour Stroop tasks. The measures were compared between 22 experienced meditators (mean of 8 years of practice) and 20 healthy controls. The results suggested no differences in the ERN, Pe, or post-error alpha suppression (all p > 0.05), even when varying multiple analysis parameters. The study showed equivalent statistical power to previous research, and > 85% power to detect medium effect sizes present in previous research. Bayes Factor analysis indicated the null hypotheses were > 3.5 more likely than any of the alternative hypotheses for the ERN or Pe. These results suggest that meditation may not alter neural activity related to error processing, despite prior research suggesting that it does.

Mindfulness meditators show enhanced working memory performance concurrent with different brain region engagement patterns during recall

“…Similarly, the current results do not indicate meditation ubiquitously improves cognitive function (nor can the results answer the question of whether meditation only affects attention, or affects WM independently of attention, discussed further in the supplementary materials). Some of our research has shown null results in different measures of cognition (Bailey et al, 2018; J. Payne et al, 2019).…”

“…Finally, we feel it is important to note that the current results require replication before we can be confident they reflect true differences between meditators and non-meditators. Typically this point is taken for granted in scientific research, but we think it is worth noting explicitly given the current replication crisis in psychology (Collaboration, 2015), recent non replications in mindfulness research (Bailey et al, 2018; J. Payne et al, 2019), and the current media hype surrounding mindfulness research.…”

Investigating mindfulness influences on cognitive function: On the promise and potential of converging research strategies (currently in press at Psychonomic Bulletin & Review)

“…Collectively, these studies suggest that meditators possess superior conflict monitoring abilities. Although convincing, it is important to note that a more recent study, which used novel whole-scalp EEG analysis, reported no behavioral or neural differences between meditators and controls (Bailey, Freedman, Fitzgibbon, Rogasch, Van Dam, & Fitzgerald, 2019). A final note is that although mindfulness skill has primarily been estimated cross-sectionally, and typically based on self-reported hours of practice, efforts are underway to derive performance-based measures of mindfulness skills with adequate psychometric properties, such that these can be utilized as alternative means of skill assessment in experimental designs (Levinson, Stoll, Kindy, Merry, & Davidson, 2014;Hadash & Bernstein, 2019).…”

Neural Correlate of Acceptance: Relating Individual Differences in Dispositional Acceptance to Error Processing

“…Furthermore, across all participants (e.g., both mindful and controls), higher acceptance was correlated with a more negative ERN . Bailey et al (2018) attempted to replicate these findings but found no differences in the ERN between meditators of two or more years with a comparative control group.…”