Present mind: the effect of mindful meditation on the executive network of cognition
Abstract
Mindfulness is a relatively novel area of study in psychological research; however, it shows promising advances in several areas of cognitive function. The current study investigated the effects of short-term mindful meditative sitting on the executive network of cognitive function using a pre-test/post-test method. 19 college-aged students with no prior meditative experience practiced meditative sitting 15 minutes per day for 18 days compared to a college-aged control group that did not participate in meditation. The study found that there were no interactions between whether or not the group received mindfulness training and improvement on three cognitive tasks; however, the experimental group significantly improved over time compared to the control group on all tasks. The results of the current study suggest that mindfulness positively affects the executive network of cognition.