Long-term meditation: the relationship between cognitive processes, thinking styles and mindfulness.


Author: Fabio RA1, Towey GE2

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Cognitive Empowerment Laboratory, Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Via Concezione, 6, 98122, Messina, Italy.

<sup>2</sup>Cognitive Empowerment Laboratory, Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Via Concezione, 6, 98122, Messina, Italy. giuliatowey@yahoo.it.
Conference/Journal: Cogn Process.
Date published: 2017 Nov 7
Other:
  Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s10339-017-0844-3. [Epub ahead of print]   ,  Word Count: 128  
    The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between meditation and cognitive functions. More in depth the purpose is to demonstrate that long-term meditation practice improves attention skills and cognitive flexibility. Eighteen long-term meditation practitioners were compared to a matched control group, who never practiced meditation. Each subject was tested, using computerized software (Presentation Software 9.90), which measured: attention, visual search abilities, working memory and Stroop's interference tasks. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between long-term meditation practice, mindfulness skills and thinking styles, namely styles of processing information. The results showed significant differences between the two groups, demonstrating that long-term meditation is linked to improvements of attentional functions, working memory and cognitive flexibility.



KEYWORDS: Attention; Cognitive flexibility; Meditation; Thinking styles; Working memory



PMID: 29110263  DOI: 10.1007/s10339-017-0844-3