(02-07-10) Meditation Improves Cognitive Skills in Just Four Days

by Wee Peng Ho, citizen journalist


If you are still undecided whether to sign up for that meditation class,
perhaps this piece of research news may do the trick. A study published in the
April 2 issue of Consciousness and Cognition found that 20 minutes of
meditation each day can improve cognitive skills in as short as four days.

The research involved 63 students randomly split into two groups. Researchers
trained one group on mindfulness meditation while the other group listened to J.
R.R. Tolkein's fantasy novel, The Hobbit. Before and after the experiment,
students from both groups were assessed on their mood and cognitive functions,
including memory, concentration and visual attention.

A total of 49 students completed the experiment. All of them reported an
improvement in mood, but only students in the meditation group fared a
noticeable improvement in cognitive abilities. They scored consistently higher
averages than those in the listening group on all tests.

"Simply stated, the profound improvements that we found after just four days
of meditation training -- are really surprising," said Fadel Zeidan, a post-
doctoral researcher at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and a former
doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where the
research was conducted. "It goes to show that the mind is, in fact, easily
changeable and highly influenced, especially by meditation."

In one particular test called the "computer adaptive n-back task", the
meditation group did as much as ten times better than the control group. This
test required participants to remember whether a stimulus had been shown two
steps earlier in a sequence. Every correct answer will speed up the next
stimulus, increasing the difficulty of the test. The group briefly trained in
meditation scored an average of ten consecutive correct answers compared to the
listening group`s one.

"The meditation group did especially better on all the cognitive tests that
were timed," Zeidan noted. "In tasks where participants had to process
information under time constraints causing stress, the group briefly trained in
mindfulness performed significantly better."

The study author, however, admitted that more brain imaging studies are
required to confirm the brain power boost seen in the study.

"But this seems to be strong evidence for the idea that we may be able to
modify our own minds to improve our cognitive processing -- most importantly in
the ability to sustain attention and vigilance -- within a week's time."

The meditation training given to the students was administered by an
experienced facilitator. Adapted from a Buddhist meditation practice, the
training required participants to relax and focus on their breaths. When
distracting thoughts arose, participants were told to acknowledge them and
gently bring their attention back to their breathing. On top of the mindfulness
meditation, students also received other training to enhance their awareness
and concentration.

Does this study imply that four days of meditation are all one needs to
improve cognitive skills permanently? No, said the study author. "This kind of
training seems to prepare the mind for activity, but it's not necessarily
permanent," Zeidan cautioned. "This doesn't mean that you meditate for four
days and you're done -- you need to keep practicing."

The findings of this study coincide with similar research done in 2007 that
investigated the effects of short-term meditation on attention and mood (see
Source #3). In that study, 40 Chinese students were given five days of 20-
minute integrative body-mind training and exhibited higher concentration,
better mood, lesser stress and higher immunity.

Sources:
1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/...
2. http://www.publicrelations.uncc.edu...
3. http://www.pnas.org/content/104/43/...

Source:NaturalNews

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In evidenza

"L'informazione presente nel sito serve a migliorare, e non a sostituire, il rapporto medico-paziente."

Per coloro che hanno problemi di salute si consiglia di consultare sempre il proprio medico curante.