The Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation Training on Mood, Cognitive, and Cardiovascular Variables

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Zeidan, F. (2009). The Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation Training on Mood, Cognitive, and Cardiovascular Variables. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

This study examined whether a brief mindfulness meditation intervention, a style of meditative practice marked by focusing on the sensations of the breath without judgment, would affect mood, cognition, and cardiovascular measures. Participants with no prior meditation experience participated in four sessions that involved training in either meditation training (N = 24) or listening to a book recording (N = 23). Both conditions were found to be similarly effective at improving mood. Meditation was more effective at reducing fatigue, reducing anxiety, improving visuo-spatial processing, and working memory performance, in comparison to the book listening group. The meditation group also reduced systolic blood pressure following meditation training, whereas the book listening group did not. These results indicate that brief meditation has beneficial effects on some measures of mood, cognition, and blood pressure. Brief mindfulness meditation training effectively enhanced participants' ability to sustain attention, evidenced by improvements on cognitive measures. Our findings suggest that the benefits of meditation can be realized after a brief training regimen.

Details
Author

Zeidan, Fadel

Title

The Effects of Brief Mindfulness Meditation Training on Mood, Cognitive, and Cardiovascular Variables

Physical Description

1 online resource (73 pages) : PDF

Date

2009

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

This study examined whether a brief mindfulness meditation intervention, a style of meditative practice marked by focusing on the sensations of the breath without judgment, would affect mood, cognition, and cardiovascular measures. Participants with no prior meditation experience participated in four sessions that involved training in either meditation training (N = 24) or listening to a book recording (N = 23). Both conditions were found to be similarly effective at improving mood. Meditation was more effective at reducing fatigue, reducing anxiety, improving visuo-spatial processing, and working memory performance, in comparison to the book listening group. The meditation group also reduced systolic blood pressure following meditation training, whereas the book listening group did not. These results indicate that brief meditation has beneficial effects on some measures of mood, cognition, and blood pressure. Brief mindfulness meditation training effectively enhanced participants' ability to sustain attention, evidenced by improvements on cognitive measures. Our findings suggest that the benefits of meditation can be realized after a brief training regimen.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Psychology, Experimental

Degree

Ph.D.

Keywords

Attention
Cardiovascular
Cognition
Meditation
Mindfulness
Mood

Subject Area

Health Psychology

Advisor(s)

Johnson, Susan

Committee Members

Faust, Mark
Goolkasian, Paula
Rauch, Alan
Moore, Linda

Degree Note

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2009.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Zeidan_uncc_0694D_10079

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1312