Sagol Department of Neurobiology, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
The Institute of Information Processing and Decision Making (IIPDM), University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Psychol Res. 2023 Feb;87(1):294-307. doi: 10.1007/s00426-022-01642-6. Epub 2022 Feb 28.
Mindfulness meditation (MM) practice is considered to benefit physical and mental health. In particular, several studies have shown a beneficial effect of MM practice on memory performance. However, it is still not clear how long-term training affects long-term declarative memory. In this study we aimed to examine whether long-term MM training impacts declarative memory formation for diverse memoranda types, as well as the role of trait mindfulness, and the possible mediating role of anxiety.
We examined long-term memory performance in 23 experienced MM practitioners and 22 meditation-naïve age-matched individuals, by administering a variety of declarative memory tests, ranging from item recognition to narrative and autobiographical memory recollection and future projection. The participants also filled the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI).
Compared to the control group, long-term MM practitioners exhibited heightened memory performance for the picture recognition test and experienced enhanced vividness during autobiographic memory retrieval and future simulations. We also report a significant trait mindfulness and memory performance correlation, stemming exclusively from the Mm group.
Our findings extend previous reports of the beneficial effect of a short-term MM training on memory performance, by showing the beneficial effect of long-term training on declarative memory. We also provide initial evidence that trait mindfulness is positively correlated with declarative memory performance, as a function of MM practice, and discuss these findings in light of the role of self-mode and cognitive diffusion, as well as attention and emotion.
正念冥想（MM）练习被认为有益于身心健康。特别是，一些研究表明 MM 练习对记忆表现有有益的影响。然而，长期训练如何影响长期陈述性记忆仍不清楚。在这项研究中，我们旨在研究长期 MM 训练是否会影响不同记忆类型的陈述性记忆形成，以及特质正念的作用，以及焦虑的可能中介作用。
我们通过各种陈述性记忆测试，从项目识别到叙事和自传记忆回忆以及未来预测，来检查 23 名经验丰富的 MM 练习者和 22 名无冥想经验的年龄匹配个体的长期记忆表现。参与者还填写了五因素正念问卷（FFMQ）和状态特质焦虑量表（STAI）。
与对照组相比，长期 MM 练习者在图片识别测试中表现出更高的记忆成绩，并且在自传记忆检索和未来模拟中经历了更高的生动感。我们还报告了特质正念和记忆表现之间存在显著的相关性，这种相关性仅来自 MM 组。
我们的发现扩展了以前关于短期 MM 训练对记忆表现有益影响的报告，表明长期训练对陈述性记忆有有益的影响。我们还提供了初步证据，表明特质正念与 MM 练习相关的陈述性记忆表现呈正相关，并根据自我模式和认知扩散以及注意力和情绪的作用讨论了这些发现。
