Jha Amishi P, Morrison Alexandra B, Dainer-Best Justin, Parker Suzanne, Rostrup Nina, Stanley Elizabeth A
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, United States of America.
Walsh School of Foreign Service and Department of Government, Georgetown University, Washington, District of Columbia, United States of America; Mind Fitness Training Institute, Alexandria, Virginia, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2015 Feb 11;10(2):e0116889. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0116889. eCollection 2015.
We investigated the impact of mindfulness training (MT) on attentional performance lapses associated with task-unrelated thought (i.e., mind wandering). Periods of persistent and intensive demands may compromise attention and increase off-task thinking. Here, we investigated if MT may mitigate these deleterious effects and promote cognitive resilience in military cohorts enduring a high-demand interval of predeployment training. To better understand which aspects of MT programs are most beneficial, three military cohorts were examined. Two of the three groups were provided MT. One group received an 8-hour, 8-week variant of Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT) emphasizing engagement in training exercises (training-focused MT, n = 40), a second group received a didactic-focused variant emphasizing content regarding stress and resilience (didactic-focused MT, n = 40), and the third group served as a no-training control (NTC, n = 24). Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) performance was indexed in all military groups and a no-training civilian group (CIV, n = 45) before (T1) and after (T2) the MT course period. Attentional performance (measured by A', a sensitivity index) was lower in NTC vs. CIV at T2, suggesting that performance suffers after enduring a high-demand predeployment interval relative to a similar time period of civilian life. Yet, there were significantly fewer performance lapses in the military cohorts receiving MT relative to NTC, with training-focused MT outperforming didactic-focused MT at T2. From T1 to T2, A' degraded in NTC and didactic-focused MT but remained stable in training-focused MT and CIV. In sum, while protracted periods of high-demand military training may increase attentional performance lapses, practice-focused MT programs akin to training-focused MT may bolster attentional performance more than didactic-focused programs. As such, training-focused MT programs should be further examined in cohorts experiencing protracted high-demand intervals.
我们研究了正念训练（MT）对与任务无关思维（即走神）相关的注意力表现失误的影响。持续且高强度需求的时期可能会损害注意力并增加任务外思维。在此，我们研究了MT是否可以减轻这些有害影响，并在经历高要求的部署前训练间隔期的军事队列中促进认知恢复力。为了更好地理解MT项目的哪些方面最有益，我们对三个军事队列进行了研究。三个组中的两个组接受了MT。一组接受了为期8周、共8小时的基于正念的心理体能训练（MMFT）变体，该变体强调参与训练练习（以训练为重点的MT，n = 40），第二组接受了以说教为重点的变体，强调有关压力和恢复力的内容（以说教为重点的MT，n = 40），第三组作为无训练对照组（NTC，n = 24）。在MT课程期之前（T1）和之后（T2），对所有军事组和一个无训练的平民组（CIV，n = 45）的持续注意力反应任务（SART）表现进行了评估。在T2时，NTC组的注意力表现（通过灵敏度指数A'衡量）低于CIV组，这表明在经历高要求的部署前间隔期后，相对于平民生活中的类似时间段，表现会受到影响。然而，与NTC组相比，接受MT的军事队列中的表现失误明显更少，在T2时，以训练为重点的MT优于以说教为重点的MT。从T1到T2，NTC组和以说教为重点的MT组的A'下降，但以训练为重点的MT组和CIV组保持稳定。总之，虽然长时间的高要求军事训练可能会增加注意力表现失误，但类似于以训练为重点的MT的以练习为重点的MT项目可能比以说教为重点的项目更能增强注意力表现。因此，应以训练为重点的MT项目应在经历长时间高要求间隔期的队列中进一步研究。
