The influence of a short-term mindfulness meditation intervention on emotion and visual attention

Thompson, C ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7967-7019, Quigley, E and Taylor, A 2021, 'The influence of a short-term mindfulness meditation intervention on emotion and visual attention' , Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, 5 (1) , pp. 73-82.

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Abstract

It has been suggested that mindfulness meditation (MM) improves psychological wellbeing via the focusing and broadening of attention. Whilst studies show that short term MM interventions can improve focused attention there is little evidence to support the broadening of attention. The current study investigated the influence of a short-term MM intervention on emotion and the scope of visual attention. Seventy participants completed a global-local processing task separated into three blocks of trials, with a ten minute break between each one. During the breaks a MM group engaged in a breath counting task and a control group engaged in a task of their choosing. Response times to global and local targets and a measure of self-reported emotional affect were recorded for each block. Mindfulness had no impact on attention however both positive and negative affect decreased for the MM group across the course of the experiment. The results suggest that MM can reduce the focus on negative (and positive) thoughts, indicating possible changes to focused attention, yet a short-term intervention is not sufficient to broaden attention

Item Type:	Article
Schools:	Schools > School of Health and Society > Centre for Health Sciences Research
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Cognitive Enhancement
Publisher:	Springer
ISSN:	2509-3290
Related URLs:	Publication
Depositing User:	Dr Catherine Thompson
Date Deposited:	08 Jun 2020 14:57
Last Modified:	28 Aug 2021 12:09
URI:	http://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/57228

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