Vieth Elena, von Stockhausen Lisa
Department of Psychology, University of Duisburg-Essen - Campus Essen, Essen, DE.
J Cogn. 2022 Jan 21;5(1):13. doi: 10.5334/joc.205. eCollection 2022.
Mindfulness is understood as a state or practice of guiding attention to the present moment without judgment. While some studies on mindfulness-based interventions demonstrate beneficial effects on cognitive functions (e.g. Chiesa et al., 2011; Yakobi et al., 2021) it still appears challenging to identify underlying mechanisms due to the wide range of research designs and dependent measures used, as well as the frequent absence of active control conditions. Relatedly, processes underlying the effects of short inductions of a mindful state may be unspecific to mindfulness and attainable through other means, such as relaxation (Fell et al., 2010). Therefore, the current study compared the effects of a brief mindfulness induction with a relaxation induction (via progressive muscle relaxation; active control condition) and listening to podcasts (passive control condition) in a pre-post experimental design. 78 participants without recent meditation experience were randomly assigned to the experimental conditions (mindfulness = 25; progressive muscle relaxation = 24; podcast listening = 30) and received corresponding instructions for a total of 40 minutes (2 × 20 minutes) a maximum of 3 days apart. Executive functions of inhibition, updating and switching as well as attentional networks were assessed with the continuous performance task, n-back task, number-letter task, and attention network task, respectively. While updating and executive attention similarly benefited from meditation and relaxation compared to podcast listening, inhibition and shifting measures indicate differential effects of mindfulness induction. Alerting and orienting were not affected by any induction. Implications for mechanisms underlying the effects of mindfulness are discussed.
正念被理解为一种引导注意力至当下而不做评判的状态或练习。虽然一些关于基于正念的干预措施的研究表明其对认知功能有有益影响（例如，基耶萨等人，2011年；亚科比等人，2021年），但由于所采用的研究设计和相关测量方法种类繁多，以及经常缺乏积极对照条件，确定其潜在机制似乎仍然具有挑战性。相关地，短暂诱导正念状态所产生效果的潜在过程可能并非正念所特有，并且可以通过其他方式实现，比如放松（费尔等人，2010年）。因此，本研究在前后测实验设计中比较了短暂正念诱导与放松诱导（通过渐进性肌肉放松；积极对照条件）以及听播客（消极对照条件）的效果。78名近期无冥想经验的参与者被随机分配到各实验条件组（正念组 = 25人；渐进性肌肉放松组 = 24人；听播客组 = 30人），并接受相应指导，总计40分钟（2×20分钟），间隔最多3天。分别使用连续性能任务、n-回溯任务、数字-字母任务和注意力网络任务评估抑制、更新和转换的执行功能以及注意力网络。与听播客相比，更新和执行注意力同样从冥想和放松中受益，但抑制和转换测量结果表明正念诱导有不同效果。警觉和定向不受任何诱导的影响。文中讨论了正念效果潜在机制的相关影响。
