Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources
Author Information
Author(s): Richard Davidson, Rachel Jones
Hypothesis
Volunteers who received three months of intensive training in Vipassana meditation would allocate attentional resources more efficiently and show enhanced performance on the attentional blink task.
Conclusion
Intensive mental training can produce lasting improvements in the efficient distribution of attentional resources among competing stimuli.
Supporting Evidence
- Practitioners showed improved detection of the second target after training.
- Only 16 out of 23 novices showed a similar improvement.
- The P3b potential associated with the first target was significantly smaller in practitioners after training.
Takeaway
After practicing meditation for three months, people got better at noticing things quickly, even when they weren't meditating.
Methodology
Participants were divided into a practitioner group with intensive meditation training and a novice group with minimal training, and their performance on an attentional blink task was compared.
Potential Biases
Potential self-selection bias in participants who chose to engage in intensive meditation.
Limitations
The study may not generalize to all types of meditation or to longer-term effects beyond three months.
Participant Demographics
Participants included individuals interested in meditation, with a mix of practitioners and novices.
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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