Longitudinal evidence for differential plasticity of cognitive functions

Mindfulness-based mental training enhances working memory, but not perceptual discrimination, response inhibition, and metacognition

authored by: Anne Böckler, Tania Singer
Abstract: Recent decades have witnessed an increasing interest in effects of meditation-based interventions on the improvement of cognitive abilities, ranging from perceptual discrimination to metacognition. However, intervention studies face numerous conceptual and methodological challenges, and results are fairly inconsistent. In a large-scale 9-month mental training study, we investigated differential changes in different facets of cognitive functioning after training of three distinct types of mental training modules focusing on attention, socioemotional, and sociocognitive skills. We found enhanced working memory performance specifically after the mindfulness-based attention module, an effect that was positively related to training intensity, but not paralleled by reduced effects of encoding time, memory load, or proactive interference. By contrast, none of the training modules altered perceptual threshold, response inhibition, or metacognition. These findings provide benchmarks for effect-sizes in training-induced change and specify the most promising practice type as well as the underlying processes for improvements in working memory performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Organisation(s): Institute of Psychology
External Organisation(s): Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Science (MPI CBS)
Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg
Type: Article
Journal: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General
Volume: 151
Pages: 1573-1590
No. of pages: 18
ISSN: 0096-3445
Publication date: 01.07.2022
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Psychology(all), Developmental Neuroscience
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001143 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@article{8302a07e7e9d4dc3853b18e1daf9b556,
title = "Longitudinal evidence for differential plasticity of cognitive functions: Mindfulness-based mental training enhances working memory, but not perceptual discrimination, response inhibition, and metacognition",
abstract = "Recent decades have witnessed an increasing interest in effects of meditation-based interventions on the improvement of cognitive abilities, ranging from perceptual discrimination to metacognition. However, intervention studies face numerous conceptual and methodological challenges, and results are fairly inconsistent. In a large-scale 9-month mental training study, we investigated differential changes in different facets of cognitive functioning after training of three distinct types of mental training modules focusing on attention, socioemotional, and sociocognitive skills. We found enhanced working memory performance specifically after the mindfulness-based attention module, an effect that was positively related to training intensity, but not paralleled by reduced effects of encoding time, memory load, or proactive interference. By contrast, none of the training modules altered perceptual threshold, response inhibition, or metacognition. These findings provide benchmarks for effect-sizes in training-induced change and specify the most promising practice type as well as the underlying processes for improvements in working memory performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).",
keywords = "Attention, Cognitive functioning, Mental training, Mindfulness, Plasticity",
author = "Anne B{\"o}ckler and Tania Singer",
note = "Funding Information: Tania Singer, as principal investigator, received funding for the ReSource Project from the European Research Council under the European Community{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013/ERC Grant Agreement 205557 to Tania Singer), and from the Max Planck Society.",
year = "2022",
month = jul,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1037/xge0001143",
language = "English",
volume = "151",
pages = "1573--1590",
journal = "Journal of Experimental Psychology: General",
issn = "0096-3445",
publisher = "American Psychological Association Inc.",
number = "7",
}