The DOI matches its Crossref record; 45 of the 45 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Intensive Meditation Training Improves Perceptual Discrimination and Sustained Attention
Open accessAbstract
The ability to focus one’s attention underlies success in many everyday tasks, but voluntary attention cannot be sustained for extended periods of time. In the laboratory, sustained-attention failure is manifest as a decline in perceptual sensitivity with increasing time on task, known as the vigilance decrement. We investigated improvements in sustained attention with training (~5 hr/day for 3 months), which consisted of meditation practice that involved sustained selective attention on a chosen stimulus (e.g., the participant’s breath). Participants were randomly assigned either to receive training first ( n = 30) or to serve as waiting-list controls and receive training second ( n = 30). Training produced improvements in visual discrimination that were linked to increases in perceptual sensitivity and improved vigilance during sustained visual attention. Consistent with the resource model of vigilance, these results suggest that perceptual improvements can reduce the resource demand imposed by target discrimination and thus make it easier to sustain voluntary attention.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Another important constituent that has emerged in the literature is that mindfulness and other meditations improve internal awareness and that developed capacity has led to increased clarity of mental processes leading to improvements in meta-awareness (Cahn and Polich, 2006; MacLean et al., 2010; Raffone and Srinivasan, 2010; Schmalzl et al., 2015).”
From Mindfulness, Interoception, and the Body: A Contemporary Perspective (2019) · cites this paper as MacLean et al., 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Open monitoring is also believed to involve higher-order meta-awareness (MacLean et al., 2010; Schmalzl et al., 2015) enabling an objective witnessing of one’s stream of thoughts and experiences.”
From Mindfulness, Interoception, and the Body: A Contemporary Perspective (2019) · cites this paper as MacLean et al., 2010
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“Mindfulness practices have been associated with benefits for coping with stress, anxiety, and depression [23,25,26,27], improving compassion and increasing prosocial (e.g., helping or relationship-promoting) behaviors [28,29,30], bolstering attention and working (e.g., short-term) memory [31,32], improving self-regulatory abilities (e.g., self-control) [33], and supporting physical health [34,35,”
From Being in the moment so you can keep moving forward: Mindfulness and rumination mediate the relationship between attachment orientations and negative conflict styles (2020) · cites this paper as [32]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“Engaging in formal mindfulness training reduces depressive symptoms and rumination while improving sustained attention (e.g., Chambers, Lo, & Allen, 2008) and perceptual sensitivity (e.g., MacLean et al., 2010).”
From United we stand: emphasizing commonalities across cognitive-behavioral therapies. (2013) · cites this paper as MacLean et al., 2010
The check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“empirical evidence also suggests that arousal is generated during specific meditative practices. For instance, the generation of arousal during meditation has been observed in Hindu Tantric practices (e.g., [121, 122]) as well as in several Vajrayana practices (e.g., [27, 28])”
From The Influence of Buddhist Meditation Traditions on the Autonomic System and Attention (2015) · cites this paper as [121]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population
Radloff, L. S. (1977) · Applied Psychological Measurement · doi:10.1177/014662167700100306 · Cited by 53,267
The assessment and analysis of handedness: The Edinburgh inventory
Oldfield, R. C. (1971) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/0028-3932(71)90067-4 · Cited by 35,900 · cited 1×
“Hand dominance (L = left-handed; R = right-handed) was assessed by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield, 1971).”
Method(1970) · Cited by 24,983
(1998) · The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · Cited by 19,139
Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being.
Ryff, C. D. (1989) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069 · Cited by 14,847 · cited 2×
“…included the Big Five Inventory (BFI; John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs, 1983), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977), and the Psychological Well-Being Scale (Ryff, 1989).”
MethodJournal of Clinical Psychiatry
(2018) · Journal of Clinical Psychiatry · doi:10.5505/kpd · Cited by 13,703
Littell, R. C. (1996) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 10,345
(1998) · PubMed · Cited by 10,216
Posner, M. I. (1980) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1080/00335558008248231 · Cited by 9,670 · cited 1×
“Voluntary attention—guided by goals, previous knowledge, or explicit instructions—can be directed to spatial locations (e.g., Posner, 1980) and moments in time (e.g., Correa, Lupiáñez, Madrid, & Tudela, 2006) to improve behavioral accuracy and efficiency.”
BackgroundJournal of Consciousness Studies
(2022) · Journal of Consciousness Studies · doi:10.53765/20512201 · Cited by 6,852
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- Buddhaghosa, 1979, The path of purification
- John O.P., 1991, The “Big Five” Inventory—Versions 4a and 54
- Wallace B.A., 2006, The attention revolution
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–300 of 623
Concentrative Meditation Influences Visual Awareness: a Study with Color Afterimages
Srinivasan, N., & Singh, A. K. (2015) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-015-0428-1 · Cited by 33
Rhythmic Haptic Stimuli Improve Short-Term Attention
Zhang, S., Wang, D., Afzal, N., Zhang, Y., & Wu, R. (2016) · IEEE Transactions on Haptics · doi:10.1109/toh.2016.2531662 · Cited by 32
“which investigated meditation training in improving attention focusing ability [3], they did not observe any improvement in reaction time when participants were doing a line discrimination task after a period of meditation training, so that they ruled out decision making and response execution stages from their result…”
BackgroundMurphy, A. (2016) · Contemporary Buddhism · doi:10.1080/14639947.2016.1228324 · Cited by 38
“…training has been found to improve overall cognitive function by enhancing attention (Jha, Krompinger, and Baime 2007; Lutz, Slagter et al. 2009; Maclean et al. 2010; Moore and Malinowski 2009; Van den hurk et al. 2010), working memory capacity (Jha et al. 2010; Van Vugt and Jha 2011) and…”
BackgroundMinding the source: The impact of mindfulness on source monitoring
Alberts, H. J. E. M., Otgaar, H., & Kalagi, J. (2017) · Legal and Criminological Psychology · doi:10.1111/lcrp.12102 · Cited by 31
Isbel, B., Lagopoulos, J., Hermens, D. F., & Summers, M. J. (2019) · Neuroscience Letters · doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2019.01.029 · Cited by 34
Lin, Y., Tang, R., & Braver, T. S. (2021) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-021-02008-6 · Cited by 33
Spirituality and Intergroup Harmony: Meditation and Racial Prejudice
Hunsinger, M., Livingston, R. W., & Isbell, L. M. (2012) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0159-5 · Cited by 30
“For instance, many studies have found that meditation provides multiple psychological benefits to the meditator, including stress reduction and increases in cognitive functioning (MacLean et al. 2010; Rosenzweig et al. 2003; Shapiro et al. 2005; van den Hurk et al. 2010).”
BackgroundSharma, K., Chandra, S., & Dubey, A. K. (2018) · International Journal of Yoga · doi:10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_11_17 · Cited by 29
“[5‐7] Slight improvements in cognitive abilities due to meditation[8] practice may lead to mental well‐being and healthy day‐to‐day life.”
BackgroundBarton, A. C., Sheen, J. A., & Byrne, L. K. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02050 · Cited by 37
Yuan, H.-L., Lai, C. Y. Y., Wong, M., Kwong, T. C., Choy, Y. S., Mung, S. W. Y., & Chan, C. C. H. (2022) · Children · doi:10.3390/children9101584 · Cited by 47
“Other studies have reported that mindfulness practice is effective in enhancing perceptual sensitivity, maintaining sustained attention [122], and improving focus [123].”
BackgroundA Computational Model of Focused Attention Meditation and Its Transfer to a Sustained Attention Task
Moye, A., & van Vugt, M. K. (2019) · IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing · doi:10.1109/taffc.2019.2908172 · Cited by 29
Short-Term Meditation Intervention Improves Self-Regulation and Academic Performance
Tang, Y. (2014) · Journal of Child and Adolescent Behaviour · doi:10.4172/2375-4494.1000154 · Cited by 31
Devaney, K. J., Levin, E. J., Tripathi, V., Higgins, J. P., Lazar, S. W., & Somers, D. C. (2021) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci11050566 · Cited by 32
Lam, S. U., Riordan, K. M., Simonsson, O., Davidson, R. J., & Goldberg, S. B. (2023) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-02061-9 · Cited by 34
“Documented potential benefits include improved attention (MacLean et al., 2010), academic performance (Tang, 2014), and emotion regulation (Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor, 2010), as well as general physical (Edwards & Loprinzi, 2017) and mental well-being (Galante et al., 2021; participants frequently…”
How to Assess Gaming-Induced Benefits on Attention and Working Memory
Mishra, J., Bavelier, D., & Gazzaley, A. H. (2012) · Games for Health Journal · doi:10.1089/g4h.2011.0033 · Cited by 34
Galla, B. M., Hale, T. S., Shrestha, A., Loo, S. K., & Smalley, S. L. (2011) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-011-0083-0 · Cited by 38
Effects of meditation practice on spontaneous eyeblink rate
Kruis, A., Slagter, H. A., Bachhuber, D. R. W., Davidson, R. J., & Antoine Lutz, A. (2016) · Psychophysiology · doi:10.1111/psyp.12619 · Cited by 31
“…as resistance to distraction, mind wandering, attentional control, self-regulation, working memory, and impulsivity (Chambers, Lo, & Allen, 2007; Jha, Krompinger, & Baime, 2007; Lattimore, Fisher, & Malinowski, 2011; Lutz et al., 2009; MacLean et al., 2010; Slagter et al., 2007; Tang et al., 2007).”
ResultSaggar, M., Zanesco, A. P., King, B. G., Bridwell, D. A., MacLean, K. A., Aichele, S., Jacobs, T. L., Wallace, B. A., Saron, C. D., & Miikkulainen, R. P. (2015) · NeuroImage · doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.03.073 · Cited by 27
“All rights reserved. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationWhen the mind’s eye prevails: The Internal Dominance over External Attention (IDEA) hypothesis
Verschooren, S., & Egner, T. (2023) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/s13423-023-02272-8 · Cited by 34
“It has indeed been found that meditation reduces mind wandering (Levinson et al., 2014; MacLean et al., 2010; Mrazek et al., 2012) and promotes sustained attention (Lutz et al., 2008), executive control (Jha et al., 2007), and self-regulation (Brown & Ryan, 2003; Chambers et al., 2008).”
The neurobiology of mindfulness meditation.
Zeidan, F. Z. (2014) · Cited by 27
Sadhasivam, S., Alankar, S., Maturi, R. K., Williams, A. E., Vishnubhotla, R. V., Hariri, S., Mudigonda, M., Pawale, D., Dubbireddi, S., Packiasabapathy, S., et al. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.659667 · Cited by 28
“Meditation practices may impact factors such as cognition, emotions, perception, and attention, and a new field of contemplative neuroscience aims to elucidate changes in brain structure and function related to meditation (Brown and Ryan, 2003; Holzel et al., 2007; Jha et al., 2007, 2010; Srinivasan and Baijal, 2007;…”
BackgroundMeditation-induced effects on whole-brain structural and effective connectivity
Filippi, E. D., Escrichs, A., Càmara, E., Garrido, C., Marins, T. F., Sánchez-Fibla, M., Gilson, M., & Deco, G. (2022) · Brain Structure and Function · doi:10.1007/s00429-022-02496-9 · Cited by 29
“…such as improved emotional regulation and reduced stress (Chiesa and Serretti, 2009; Chung et al., 2012; Tang et al., 2016), enhanced attentional skills (Valentine and Sweet, 1999; Brefczynski-Lewis et al., 2007; Semple, 2010; MacLean et al., 2010), and reduced mind-wandering (Brewer et al., 2011).”
BackgroundHo, N. S. P., Sun, D., Ting, K. H., Chan, C. C. H., & Lee, T. M. C. (2015) · Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · doi:10.1155/2015/212368 · Cited by 28
“For example, a longitudinal study showed that three months of intensive mindfulness meditation training increased perceptual sensitivity and improved attention vigilance [17].”
BackgroundModulation of non-spatial attention and the global/local processing bias
Vleet, T. V., Duc, A. K. H., Degutis, J. M., & Robertson, L. C. (2010) · Neuropsychologia · doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2010.11.021 · Cited by 27
Opening Up Meditation for Science: The Development of a Meditation Classification System
Schmidt, S. (2013) · Studies in neuroscience, consciousness and spirituality · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_8 · Cited by 26
Mrazek, M. D., Zedelius, C. M., Gross, M. E., Mrazek, A. J., Phillips, D. T., & Schooler, J. W. (2017) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9781315627700-10 · Cited by 28
Mindful Coping Power: Comparative Effects on Children’s Reactive Aggression and Self-Regulation
Boxmeyer, C. L., Miller, S., Romero, D. E., Powell, N. P., Jones, S. L., Qu, L., Tueller, S., & Lochman, J. E. (2021) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci11091119 · Cited by 30
“, [48]), including intensive [49] and shorter-term [33] meditation training.”
BackgroundWebb, C. A., Swords, C. M., Murray, L., & Hilt, L. M. (2021) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-021-01719-0 · Cited by 27
“, preintervention attentional control skills (MacLean et al., 2010; Wong et al., 2018) for self-report version (Derryberry & Reed, 2002)) could be helpful in informing which adolescents could benefit from a course of app-delivered mindfulness training.”
BackgroundTowards interactive mindfulness training using breathing based feedback
Pisa, A. M., Chernyshov, G., Nassou, A. F., & Kunze, K. S. (2017) · ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp) · doi:10.1145/3123024.3129268 · Cited by 25
“The benefits of meditation on sustained attention have been confirmed from earlier studies [7] although results are based on regular and focused practice.”
ResultMindfulness Improves Attention Resource Allocation During Response Inhibition in Older Adults
Isbel, B., Lagopoulos, J., Hermens, D. F., Stefanidis, K. B., & Summers, M. J. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01364-z · Cited by 28
Kozasa, E. H., Lacerda, S. S., Menezes, C. B., Wallace, B. A., Radvany, J., Mello, L. E., & Sato, J. R. (2015) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-015-0385-8 · Cited by 27
Self-citationComparing Mindfulness and Positivity Trainings in High-Demand Cohorts
Jha, A. P., Zanesco, A. P., Denkova, E., Rooks, J. D., Morrison, A. B., & Stanley, E. A. (2020) · Cognitive Therapy and Research · doi:10.1007/s10608-020-10076-6 · Cited by 27
Self-citationJuncos, D. G., & de Paiva e Pona, E. (2018) · Music & Science · doi:10.1177/2059204317748807 · Cited by 25
Mennis, J. L., Li, X., Meenar, M., Coatsworth, J. D., McKeon, T. P., & Mason, M. J. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18041611 · Cited by 26
“These linkages are not unexpected, as EF is linked with greater mindfulness empirically [64,65], and mindfulness training influences growth in EF skills [66] as well as changes in the brain regions associated with EF skills [67].”
BackgroundThe Impact of Loving-Kindness Meditation on Affective Learning and Cognitive Control
Hunsinger, M., Livingston, R. W., & Isbell, L. M. (2012) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0125-2 · Cited by 24
“Even though the research literature on meditation has clearly established its impact on cognitive resources (e.g., Jha et al. 2010; MacLean et al. 2010; Zeidan et al. 2010), these studies have focused on meditation techniques for which the main focus is not cultivating a positive affective response toward the self and…”
BackgroundWyller, H. B., Wyller, V. B., Crane, C., & Gjelsvik, B. (2017) · Scandinavian Psychologist · doi:10.15714/scandpsychol.4.e15 · Cited by 26
Cognitive Vigilance Enhancement Using Audio Stimulation of Pure Tone at 250 Hz
Al-Shargie, F., Tariq, U., Babiloni, F., & Al-Nashash, H. A. (2021) · IEEE Access · doi:10.1109/access.2021.3054785 · Cited by 23
“These methods include: mental training [7], meditation [8], sports [2], caffeine [2], nicotine [9], herbal extraction [10], chewing gum (CG) [11], fragrances exposure [12], playing video games (VG) [13], applying transcranial alter-”
Roquet, C. D., Sas, C., & Potts, D. (2021) · Human-Computer Interaction · doi:10.1080/07370024.2021.1968864 · Cited by 26
“This is an important finding, as feedback on the failure to sustain attention is usually limited to traditional mindfulness training practices such as meditation (MacLean et al., 2010; Sas & Chopra, 2015).”
BackgroundTarrasch, R. (2017) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-017-0024-5 · Cited by 23
“…the Internal Switching Task (Chambers et al. 2008), the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) (Flook et al. 2013), the dichotic listening task (Lutz et al. 2009), the visual discrimination task (MacLean et al. 2010), and the Wilkins’ Counting Test (Valentine and Sweet 1999).”
MethodShort-Term Meditation Training Fosters Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation: A Pilot Study
Fazia, T., Bubbico, F., Iliakis, I., Salvato, G., Berzuini, G., Bruno, S., & Bernardinelli, L. (2020) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.558803 · Cited by 22
Meditators Exercise Better Endogenous and Exogenous Control of Visual Awareness
Srinivasan, N., Tripathi, S., & Singhal, I. (2020) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-020-01496-2 · Cited by 5
What Makes an Elite Shooter and Archer? The Critical Role of Interoceptive Attention
Li, P., Lu, Q., Wu, Q., Liu, X., & Wu, Y. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.666568 · Cited by 25
“Recent studies have found that mindfulness training significantly improved various attention abilities (He and Wang, 2020), such as sustained attention (MacLean et al., 2010; Jha et al., 2015; Bardart et al., 2018), conflict control (Elliott et al.”
BackgroundCooper, D. J., Lindahl, J. R., Palitsky, R., & Britton, W. B. (2021) · Religions · doi:10.3390/rel12121042 · Cited by 22
Sitting and silent meditation as a strategy to study emotion regulation.
Menezes, C. B., Pereira, M. G., & Bizarro, L. (2012) · Psychology & Neuroscience · doi:10.3922/j.psns.2012.1.05 · Cited by 24
“A similar conclusion has been made based on the finding that a better perceptual sensitivity was related to an improved vigilance capacity in meditators (MacLean et al., 2010).”
BackgroundHow Life Experience Shapes Cognitive Control Strategies: The Case of Air Traffic Control Training
Arbula, S., Capizzi, M., Lombardo, N., & Vallesi, A. (2016) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0157731 · Cited by 21
Full, G. E., Walach, H., & Trautwein, F. (2012) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-012-0173-7 · Cited by 21
“1984), greater perceptual discrimination ability (MacLean et al. 2010), and as a prerequisite, improvement of sustained awareness (Jha et al.”
BackgroundEnhancing Cognitive Fitness in Adults
Hartman-Stein, P. E., & Rue, A. L. (2011) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0636-6 · Cited by 43
Grossenbacher, P. G., & Quaglia, J. T. (2017) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0730-1 · Cited by 24
“(MacLean et al. 2010) and greater conscious discrimination of emotional intensity (Sze et al.”
BackgroundJiang, X., Lopez, E., Stieger, J., Greco, C. M., & He, B. (2021) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2020.584971 · Cited by 20
“For example, one of the main benefits of mindfulness meditation is enhanced attentional control (MacLean et al., 2010).”
BackgroundLang, A. J. (2013) · Depression and Anxiety · doi:10.1002/da.22081 · Cited by 20
“Thus, one’s ability to direct and sustain attention is strengthened, as supported by data on attentional processing after meditation[14] and neuroimaging data suggesting the meditation is associated with neural activation in regions associated with attentional processing.”
BackgroundCampillo, E., Ricarte, J., Ros, L., Nieto, M., & Latorre, J. M. (2018) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-016-9519-y · Cited by 19
Milligan, K., Sibalis, A., McKeough, T., Lackner, C. L., Schmidt, L. A., Pun, C., & Segalowitz, S. J. (2019) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-019-01161-3 · Cited by 24
MindTouch: Effect of Mindfulness Meditation on Mid-Air Tactile Perception
Vasudevan, M. K., Zhong, S., Kučera, J., Cho, D., & Obrist, M. (2023) · CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems · doi:10.1145/3544548.3581238 · Cited by 20
“Intense mindfulness meditation has been shown to improve perceptual sensitivity, the ability to focus for long periods of time and sensory awareness of details [47], and even a brief 10-minute meditation has been shown to efectively reduce stress [41].”
BackgroundRethinking Meditation: Buddhist Practice in the Ancient and Modern Worlds
McMahan, D. L. (2023) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197661741.001.0001 · Cited by 26
The impact of state and dispositional mindfulness on prospective memory: A virtual reality study
Girardeau, J.-C., Blondé, P., Makowski, D., Abram, M., Piolino, P., & Sperduti, M. (2019) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2020.102920 · Cited by 22
An integrative control theory perspective on consciousness.
Mansell, W. (2022) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/rev0000384 · Cited by 21
Sustained Attention and Motivation in Zen Meditators and Non-meditators
Cardeña, E., Sjöstedt, J. O. A., & Marcusson‐Clavertz, D. (2014) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-014-0357-4 · Cited by 19
“Generally, FA improves voluntary focused attention and perceptual discrimination (lowering the perceptual threshold) (MacLean et al. 2010).”
BackgroundCognitive Control Processes Underlying Individual Differences in Self-Control
Wilkowski, B. M., & Robinson, M. D. (2016) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-801850-7.00015-9 · Cited by 21
Blanco, I., Roca, P., Duque, A., Pascual, T., & Vázquez, C. (2019) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-019-01247-y · Cited by 18
Varieties of attention in hypnosis and meditation
Lifshitz, M., Campbell, N. K. J., & Raz, A. (2012) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2012.05.008 · Cited by 19
The Immediate and Long-Term Effects of an Intensive Meditation Retreat
Cohen, J. N., Jensen, D., Stange, J. P., Neuburger, M., & Heimberg, R. G. (2017) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0682-5 · Cited by 23
“One study that has been the genesis of multiple publications examined the effects of a mindfulness retreat on 60 participants randomized to a 3-month retreat or a waiting list (MacLean et al. 2010).”
BackgroundInfluentialNature, Mind, and Medicine: A Model for Mind–Body Healing
Kaufman, J. A. (2018) · EXPLORE · doi:10.1016/j.explore.2018.01.001 · Cited by 19
Computational modelling approaches to meditation research: why should we care?
van Vugt, M. K., Moye, A., & Sivakumar, S. (2018) · Current Opinion in Psychology · doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.10.011 · Cited by 22
“We demonstrated that performance on a sustained attention task was improved after the simulated meditation practice, in line with empirical data from MacLean and colleagues [24].”
ResultKlee, D., Colgan, D. D., Hanes, D. A., & Oken, B. (2020) · International Journal of Psychophysiology · doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.10.002 · Cited by 17
Insights from Quiet Minds: The Converging Fields of Mindfulness and Mind-Wandering
Mrazek, M. D., Mooneyham, B. W., & Schooler, J. W. (2013) · Studies in neuroscience, consciousness and spirituality · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_13 · Cited by 20
“While mindfulness training has been demonstrated to improve executive attention, perceptual sensitivity, and sustained attention (Tang et al. 2007 ; MacLean et al. 2010 ), the direct impact of mindfulness training on mind-wandering has until recently been less carefully examined.”
BackgroundReset a task set after five minutes of mindfulness practice
Kuo, C., & Yeh, Y. (2015) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2015.04.023 · Cited by 23
Petranker, R., & Eastwood, J. D. (2021) · Consciousness and Cognition · doi:10.1016/j.concog.2021.103101 · Cited by 18
Zainal, N. H., & Newman, M. G. (2022) · European Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2022.19 · Cited by 16
Skwara, A. C., King, B. G., Zanesco, A. P., & Saron, C. D. (2022) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-022-01974-9 · Cited by 20
“For example, previous investigations of a waitlist-controlled longitudinal study of focused attention meditation—known as the Shamatha Project—found that 3 months of intensive training in a retreat environment lead to improvements in the capacity to regulate one’s attention (MacLean et al., 2010; Sahdra et al., 2011;…”
Self-citationMindfulness, cognition, and long-term meditators: Toward a science of advanced meditation
Ehmann, S., Sezer, I., Treves, I. N., Gabrieli, J. D. E., & Sacchet, M. D. (2025) · Imaging Neuroscience · doi:10.1162/imag.a.82 · Cited by 29
“Indeed, intensive meditation training has been linked to enhanced perceptual discrimination, afforded by increased vigilance and perceptual sensitivity, leading to reduced cognitive load and increased sustained attention ( MacLean et al., 2010).”
Meditation and the Brain in Health and Disease
Fox, K. C. R., & Cahn, B. R. (2020) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198808640.013.23 · Cited by 16
“Researchers have long suggested that the putatively enhanced attentional (MacLean et al., 2010) and introspective (Fox et al.”
BackgroundTechnostressors – a boon or bane? Toward an integrative conceptual model
Ramesh, R., Ananthram, S., Vijayalakshmi, V., & Sharma, P. (2021) · Journal of Indian Business Research · doi:10.1108/jibr-10-2021-0348 · Cited by 22
Solomonova, E., Fox, K. C. R., & Nielsen, T. (2014) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2014.00317 · Cited by 23
Neural changes in early visual processing after 6 months of mindfulness training in older adults
Isbel, B., Weber, J., Lagopoulos, J., Stefanidis, K. B., Anderson, H. S., & Summers, M. J. (2020) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78343-w · Cited by 17
Inducing Mindfulness Through Life‐Philosophical Lecturing
Saarinen, E., & Lehti, T. E. (2014) · Wiley eBooks · doi:10.1002/9781118294895.ch57 · Cited by 16
A Mini-Review of Work Stress and Mindfulness: A Neuropsychological Point of View
González-Palau, F., & Medrano, L. A. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.854204 · Cited by 16
Meditation and interoception: a conceptual framework for the narrative and experiential self
Gibson, J. (2024) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1393969 · Cited by 19
“MacLean et al. (2010) found meditation improves clarity of thought and temporal resolution leading to a meta-awareness.”
BackgroundJiang, H., Stieger, J., Kreitzer, M. J., Engel, S. A., & He, B. (2021) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-021-86215-0 · Cited by 24
The Effects of Tai Chi Practice on Intermuscular Beta Coherence and the Rubber Hand Illusion
Kerr, C. E., Agrawal, U., & Nayak, S. M. (2016) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00037 · Cited by 18
“A growing number of studies have reported that mindfulness meditation elicits health benefits, including enhanced attentional processing (Jha et al., 2007; MacLean et al., 2010), cognition (Jha et al., 2010; Mrazek et al., 2013), and sensory processing (Mirams et al., 2013).”
BackgroundQuickert, R. E., & MacDonald, T. K. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17186472 · Cited by 14
“, short-term) memory [31,32], improving self-regulatory abilities (e.”
Sawyer, R. K., & Henriksen, D. (2023) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oso/9780197747537.003.0001 · Cited by 16
Mantra Meditation Suppression of Default Mode Beyond an Active Task: a Pilot Study
Simon, R. A., Pihlsgård, J., Berglind, U., Söderfeldt, B. A., & Engström, M. (2017) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-017-0028-1 · Cited by 16
“…that meditation helps to improve attentional control and working memory (Lutz et al. 2008a; Hasenkamp et al. 2012; Hasenkamp and Barsalou 2012; MacLean et al. 2010; Tang et al. 2007; Mrazek et al. 2013; Pagnoni and Cekic 2007) potentially via the mechanism of increased anti-correlations…”
BackgroundMindfulness: Mechanism and Application
Tang, Y.-Y., & Tang, R. (2015) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-397025-1.00154-8 · Cited by 15
Buser, D., Schwaninger, A., Sauer, J., & Sterchi, Y. (2023) · Applied Ergonomics · doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2023.103995 · Cited by 14
Dentz, A., Martin-Söelch, C., Fahim, C., Torsello, A., Parent, V., Ponsioen, A., Guay, M., Bioulac, S., Clément, C., Bader, M., et al. (2024) · L Encéphale · doi:10.1016/j.encep.2023.04.010 · Cited by 20
Xu, J. (2019) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/1359105319882741 · Cited by 14
“Meditation predicts better sustained attention (MacLean et al., 2010; Valentine and Sweet, 1999).”
Mooneyham, B. W., Mrazek, M. D., Mrazek, A. J., Mrazek, K. L., Ihm, E. D., & Schooler, J. W. (2017) · Journal of Cognitive Enhancement · doi:10.1007/s41465-017-0034-3 · Cited by 17
“Furthermore, mindfulness training can lead to greater perceptual discrimination among subtly different visual stimuli as well as greater coherence between self-reported emotional states and physiological measures (MacLean et al. 2010; Sze, Gyurak, Yuan, & Levenson 2010).”
BackgroundEffects of Hatha yoga on cognitive functions in the elderly: a cross-sectional study
Baklouti, S., Aloui, A., Baklouti, H., Souissi, N., & Jarraya, M. (2022) · Libyan Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1080/19932820.2022.2080799 · Cited by 15
“[51] showed that even novice meditators demonstrated improved attention and vigilance during a visual attention task.”
BackgroundA mindful approach to controlling intrusive thoughts
Ashton, S. M., Sambeth, A., & Quaedflieg, C. W. E. M. (2023) · Scientific Reports · doi:10.1038/s41598-023-37447-9 · Cited by 16
“Results showed a significant interaction effect (Time*Condition: F(1,20) = 5.”
BackgroundZhong, S.-Y., Guo, J.-H., Zhou, X.-N., Liu, J.-L., & Jiang, C. (2024) · Acta Psychologica · doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104277 · Cited by 19
Wang, Z., Shalihaer, K., Hofmann, S. G., Feng, S., & Liu, X. (2024) · Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy · doi:10.1002/cpp.2981 · Cited by 13
Enseñar Mindfulness: Contextos de Instrucción y Pedagogía
Cebolla, A., & Campos, D. (2016) · Revista de Psicoterapia · doi:10.33898/rdp.v27i103.107 · Cited by 13
Neural Dynamics of Spontaneous Thought: An Electroencephalographic Study
Girn, M., Mills, C., Laycock, E., Ellamil, M., Ward, L. M., & Kalina Christoff, A. (2017) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58628-1_3 · Cited by 16
“Performance improvements also include, for example, increased perceptual sensitivity and vigilance on a visual threshold linelength discrimination task [24] and improved detection of the second target during attentional blink tasks [25].”
BackgroundHow long did the time spent in meditation feel? “Attention. Attention. Attention.”.
Sedlmeier, P., Winkler, I., & Lukina, A. (2020) · Psychology of Consciousness Theory Research and Practice · doi:10.1037/cns0000254 · Cited by 13
Meditation and the brain in health and diseasePreprint
Fox, K. C. R., & Cahn, B. R. (2018) · MindRxiv (OSF Preprints) · doi:10.31231/osf.io/m2sez · Cited by 13
Modeling the Effects of Attentional Cueing on Meditators
van Vugt, M. K., & van den Hurk, P. A. M. (2016) · Mindfulness · doi:10.1007/s12671-015-0464-x · Cited by 12
Mindfulness, Sustained Attention and Post-traumatic Stress in Tsunami Survivors
Hagen, C., Lien, L., Hauff, E., & Heir, T. (2016) · Psychology and Cognitive Sciences - Open Journal · doi:10.17140/pcsoj-2-115 · Cited by 13
Meditation and the scope of mental action
Upton, C. L., & Brent, M. (2018) · Philosophical Psychology · doi:10.1080/09515089.2018.1514491 · Cited by 12
“MacLean et al. (2010) conclude that meditation enhances the duration over which one can maintain her attentional focus.”
BackgroundMeditation and Hypnosis at the Intersection Between Phenomenology and Cognitive Science
Lifshitz, M., Cusumano, E. P., & Raz, A. (2013) · Studies in neuroscience, consciousness and spirituality · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-01634-4_12 · Cited by 13
“…cally, numerous empirical reports have demonstrated the impact of meditation on a wide range of attention processes and associated brain functions, including sustained attention (MacLean et al. 2010 ; Brefczynski-Lewis et al. 2007 ) and executive control (Tang et al. 2007 ; Moore et al. 2012 ).”
BackgroundAbbasi, M., Ghorbani, N., Imani, A. H., & Tahbaz Hoseinzadeh, S. (2021) · International Journal of Psychology · doi:10.1002/ijop.12705 · Cited by 13
Metadata
- Authors
- MacLean, K. A., Ferrer, E., Aichele, S. R., Bridwell, D. A., Zanesco, A. P., Jacobs, T. L., King, B. G., Rosenberg, E. L., Sahdra, B. K., Shaver, P. R., Wallace, B. A., Mangun, G. R., & Saron, C. D.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Corresponding author
- MacLean, Katherine A.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychological Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-05-11
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 829-839
- ISSN
- 0956-7976 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-9280
- PMC
- PMC3132583
- OpenAlex
- W2151443397
- Cited by
- 623
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 31 · 2023: 97 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 52 · 2019: 43 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 53 · 2016: 47 · 2015: 47 · 2014: 30 · 2013: 40 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 18.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychological Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Research Bank (Australian Catholic University) (submittedVersion)
- University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Fetzer Institute
- National Institutes of Health (5r01mh055714-13)
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01-MH055714)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Mind wandering and attention
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Keywords
- meditation training, sustained attention, vigilance decrement, perceptual discrimination, perceptual sensitivity, visual discrimination, selective attention, attentional fatigue, mindfulness
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Arousal, Attention, Discrimination, Psychological, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Visual Perception, Meditation, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
