Long-term meditation: the relationship between cognitive processes, thinking styles and mindfulness.
Author: Fabio RA1, Towey GE2
Affiliation:
1Cognitive Empowerment Laboratory, Department of Cognitive Sciences, Psychology, Education and Cultural Studies, University of Messina, Via Concezione, 6, 98122, Messina, Italy.
2Cognitive 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
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