does meditation improve critical thinking

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Does mindfulness enhance critical thinking evidence for the mediating effects of executive functioning in the relationship between mindfulness and critical thinking.

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Commentary: Does Mindfulness Enhance Critical Thinking? Evidence for the Mediating Effects of Executive Functioning in the Relationship between Mindfulness and Critical Thinking

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• 1 School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
• 2 School of Psychology, Ulster University, Coleraine, UK

Mindfulness originated in the Buddhist tradition as a way of cultivating clarity of thought. Despite the fact that this behavior is best captured using critical thinking (CT) assessments, no studies have examined the effects of mindfulness on CT or the mechanisms underlying any such possible relationship. Even so, mindfulness has been suggested as being beneficial for CT in higher education. CT is recognized as an important higher-order cognitive process which involves the ability to analyze and evaluate evidence and arguments. Such non-automatic, reflective responses generally require the engagement of executive functioning (EF) which includes updating, inhibition, and shifting of representations in working memory. Based on research showing that mindfulness enhances aspects of EF and certain higher-order cognitive processes, we hypothesized that individuals higher in facets of dispositional mindfulness would demonstrate greater CT performance, and that this relationship would be mediated by EF. Cross-sectional assessment of these constructs in a sample of 178 university students was achieved using the observing and non-reactivity sub-scales of the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire, a battery of EF tasks and the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment. Our hypotheses were tested by constructing a multiple meditation model which was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. Evidence was found for inhibition mediating the relationships between both observing and non-reactivity and CT in different ways. Indirect-only (or full) mediation was demonstrated for the relationship between observing, inhibition, and CT. Competitive mediation was demonstrated for the relationship between non-reactivity, inhibition, and CT. This suggests additional mediators of the relationship between non-reactivity and CT which are not accounted for in this model and have a negative effect on CT in addition to the positive effect mediated by inhibition. These findings are discussed in the context of the Default Interventionist Dual Process Theory of Higher-order Cognition and previous studies on mindfulness, self-regulation, EF, and higher-order cognition. In summary, dispositional mindfulness appears to facilitate CT performance and this effect is mediated by the inhibition component of EF. However, this relationship is not straightforward which suggests many possibilities for future research.

Introduction

Despite its origins as a way of cultivating clarity of thought, among the collection of studies on mindfulness conducted in recent years, few have been concerned with the link between mindfulness and thinking skills in typically developing individuals. Assessments that attempt to capture the thinking skills of people in real-world situations can be found in the body of literature focused on critical thinking (CT; Ku, 2009 ; Butler, 2012 ). CT is recognized as an important higher-order cognitive process which involves the ability to analyze and evaluate evidence and arguments without bias from experience and prior knowledge. The application of CT requires a non-automatic response to a problem situation in order to avoid heuristic and biased thinking ( West et al., 2008 ). Such non-automatic, critical, and reflective responses generally require the engagement of executive functioning (EF) – monitoring, updating, and switching between representations in working memory – and are regarded as involving deliberative processes, generally referred to as Type 2 processes by Dual-Processing theorists ( Evans and Stanovich, 2013 ). Mindfulness is often described as a process consisting of two components: present-moment attentional focus coupled with non-reactive monitoring of one’s ongoing experience ( Bishop et al., 2004 ). While an emerging body of theoretical and empirical work has linked mindfulness with enhanced EF ( Chambers et al., 2007 ; Josefsson and Broberg, 2011 ; Tang et al., 2012 ; Teper and Inzlicht, 2013 ), little empirical work has been carried out on the relationship between EF and CT ( Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga et al., 2012 ). Furthermore, though mindfulness has been shown to facilitate certain types of higher-order cognition, including insight problem-solving ( Ostafin and Kassman, 2012 ; Wen et al., 2013 ), moral reasoning and ethical decision-making ( Cottone and Javier, 2007 ; Ruedy and Schweitzer, 2011 ; Shapiro et al., 2012 ), the relationship between mindfulness and CT has not been investigated. In light of these identified gaps in the literature, the current study sought to investigate the relationship between dispositional mindfulness, EF, and CT skills.

Though there is overwhelming consensus that CT skills should be cultivated in educational and occupational settings, attempts to converge on an operational definition of CT have been far from unanimous ( Dwyer et al., 2014 ). Common to most conceptualisations of CT is the ability to evaluate arguments and evidence without influence from one’s own prior belief and experience ( West et al., 2008 ). One influential definition proposes that CT involves the application of particular cognitive skills including analysis, evaluation, and inference skills, in a purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed manner ( Halpern, 1998 ; Facione, 2013 ). It has been demonstrated that the appropriate execution of these CT skills is influenced by the presence of specific dispositions toward thinking, including a disposition toward truth-seeking, open mindedness, prudence, diligence, and flexibility ( Facione, 2013 ; Dwyer et al., 2014 ). CT performance also depends on a person’s awareness that a particular thinking skill is required, that the ongoing execution of the skill is adequate, and the ability to monitor and exert control over thinking processes ( Halpern, 1998 ). Together, these have been referred to as the self-regulatory functions of metacognition ( Halpern, 1998 ; Ku and Ho, 2010 ; Dwyer et al., 2014 ). Studies focusing on both the direct assessment of CT and the avoidance of heuristic and biased thinking have shown that the ability to monitor and control ongoing thought processes results in better real-world outcomes ( Butler, 2012 ; Butler et al., 2012 ), particularly when making decisions in personal, professional, and legislative domains ( Kahneman and Tversky, 2000 ; Hastie and Dawes, 2001 ; Myers, 2002 ; Hilton, 2003 ; Sunstein, 2005 ; Baron et al., 2006 ; Lichtenstein and Slovic, 2006 ; Reyna and Farley, 2006 ; Reyna and Lloyd, 2006 ). Few studies have examined the real-world cognitive outcomes of mindfulness though one study did show that dispositional mindfulness was related to fewer experiences of cognitive failures in daily life ( Herndon, 2008 ).

This study examines a possible link between dispositional mindfulness and CT. However, there are at least two competing views as to how mindfulness might relate to CT. One view suggests that mindfulness is either not related to CT or even a hindrance to effective CT due to its association with acceptance and non-elaborative, or non-reactive processing ( Brendel, 2015 ). Another view suggests that mindfulness facilitates effective CT due to its association with improved self-regulation ( Shapiro et al., 2011 ). In light of an emerging body of research demonstrating a positive relationship between mindfulness, self-regulation, and EF we propose that the latter view may be true. However, a link between mindfulness and CT has not been established in the literature and this may depend on a range of factors including the form of mindfulness investigated, the particular CT skill assessed, and the characteristics of study participants. The current study focused on younger adults and examined the relationship between dispositional mindfulness as measured using a short form of the Five Factor mindfulness Questionnaire ( Bohlmeijer et al., 2011 ) and CT performance assessed using the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment ( Halpern, 2010 ). Though the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and CT has not been directly assessed yet, a positive relationship between dispositional mindfulness and related constructs such as ethical decision-making, insight problem-solving and creative thinking has been demonstrated ( Ruedy and Schweitzer, 2011 ; Ostafin and Kassman, 2012 ; Baas et al., 2014 ). Dispositional mindfulness has also been found to be negatively correlated with engagement in intuitive thinking ( Remmers et al., 2014 ). In light of recent research suggesting a link between mindfulness, self-regulation, and EF ( Feltman et al., 2009 ; Tang and Posner, 2009 ; Sahdra et al., 2011 ; Moore et al., 2012 ; Lyvers et al., 2013 ; Morgan et al., 2013 ; Ostafin et al., 2013a ) and work suggesting a link between self-regulation, EF, and CT performance ( West et al., 2008 ; Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga et al., 2012 ; Evans and Stanovich, 2013 ; Dwyer et al., 2014 ), the current study sought to investigate whether the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and CT performance is mediated by EF performance.

The link between mindfulness and self-regulatory processes can best be explored by considering the currently most highly endorsed operational definition of mindfulness which conceptualizes mindfulness as consisting of two components which pertain to the focus and quality of attention, respectively, i.e., present-moment attentional focus coupled with non-reactive monitoring of one’s ongoing experience ( Bishop et al., 2004 ). This study focuses on dispositional mindfulness, a construct which reflects the tendency to engage in this non-reactive, present-moment attention ( Brown and Ryan, 2003 ). Early teachings on mindfulness suggested that a dispositional tendency to engage in mindful attention is an innate trait as well as something which can be trained ( Rau and Williams, 2015 ). Dispositional mindfulness is considered to be stable over time but can be modified through certain meditative practices, for example, practices involving Focused Attention and Open Monitoring ( Davidson and Kaszniak, 2015 ; Kiken et al., 2015 ), integrative mind-body practices such as yoga, tai chi and qigong ( Schure et al., 2008 ; Caldwell et al., 2010 ) and particular exercises developed within the traditions of Dialectical Behavior Therapy ( Perroud et al., 2012 ) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ( Ciarrochi et al., 2010 ). Recent research has shown that over the course of a mindfulness-based meditation training program individual trajectories of change in the ability to engage a mindful state is associated with both increases in dispositional mindfulness and psychological health ( Kiken et al., 2015 ). This adds to research demonstrating associations between dispositional mindfulness in non-meditators and adaptive outcomes such as increased life satisfaction ( Kong et al., 2014 ), better emotional regulation ( Goodall et al., 2012 ), lower depression and anxiety symptoms ( Desrosiers et al., 2013 ), less negative and more positive affect ( Short et al., 2015 ), and increased self-esteem ( Rasmussen and Pidgeon, 2011 ). It is also consistent with studies on mindfulness-based interventions that demonstrated increases in dispositional mindfulness which correlated with psychological health benefits ( Kiken et al., 2015 ). A range of measures have been developed to assess dispositional mindfulness and across these the two-factor structure of mindfulness tends to be supported ( Rau and Williams, 2015 ).

The first component of mindfulness involves present-moment attentional focus. When attention is focused on the present moment, internal and external stimuli are observed and brought into awareness. This allows affective cues which are normally overlooked to be noticed. It has been suggested that one function of such affective cues is to indicate that the current state an individual is in is inconsistent with their goal state and therefore control needs to be exerted – a process sometimes referred to as conflict monitoring ( Teper et al., 2013 ). Enhanced present-moment awareness and conflict monitoring has been associated with greater sensitivity to perceptual cues ( Anicha et al., 2011 ; Teper and Inzlicht, 2013 ; Teper et al., 2013 ) and enhanced executive control skills, including the ability to update and switch between thought-action representations in working memory ( Bishop et al., 2004 ; Moore and Malinowski, 2009 ).

Non-reactivity – the second component of mindfulness – involves executive control to inhibit elaboration and/or suppression of affective cues. This allows for the early engagement of emotion regulation before intense emotional reactivity to the attended thoughts, feelings, and sensations can occur ( Teper et al., 2013 ). Notably, research suggests that the two component skills of present-moment awareness and non-reactivity follow distinct developmental trajectories which may vary across individuals ( Lilja et al., 2012 ). These developmental trajectories can be tracked using validated self-report questionnaires which assess the components of dispositional mindfulness such as the extensively used Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire employed in this study ( Sauer et al., 2013 ). These questionnaires can also reveal the extent to which those without mindfulness training tend to engage mindful attention ( Brown and Ryan, 2003 ).

As such, the predominant two-component operationalisation of mindfulness implies both monitoring and control, skills which are inherently self-regulatory ( Bishop et al., 2004 ). Importantly, evidence for improved self-regulation of behavior as a result of mindfulness comes from studies on healthy eating ( Jordan et al., 2014 ), procrastination ( Sirois and Tosti, 2012 ), smoking cessation ( Libby et al., 2012 ), persistence ( Evans et al., 2009 ), and alcohol intake ( Ostafin et al., 2012 ). Furthermore, evidence for improved self-regulation of emotions and thoughts comes from the extensive literature on the clinical benefits of mindfulness ( Dowd et al., 2015 ; See reviews by Baer, 2003 ; Hofmann et al., 2010 ; Veehof et al., 2011 ), which has reported reductions in anxiety, depression, pain interference, and catastrophic thinking as a result of mindfulness training.

In cognitive models of self-regulation, the mobilization of self-regulatory resources is characterized by the effective operation of the EFs that support and govern working memory. Although many models of EF have been developed, there is an emerging consensus that EF involves three basic processes: updating, inhibition, and shifting. Updating refers to the active revision and monitoring of thinking; shifting refers to switching between tasks or mental sets; and inhibition refers to the active, deliberate suppression of thoughts or responses and the maintenance of attention on goal-relevant information ( Miyake et al., 2000 ; Miyake and Friedman, 2012 ). The updating and maintenance of working memory is vital for the accurate active representation of goals and goal-related information ( Hofmann et al., 2012 ). Furthermore, greater working memory capacity protects goal representations from thought intrusions and decreases mind-wandering. This is often referred to as goal shielding ( Brewin and Smart, 2005 ). Greater inhibitory control has been linked to more successful goal shielding and self-regulation in behaviors ranging from eating behavior to sexual fidelity ( Hofmann et al., 2008 ; Nederkoorn et al., 2010 ; Pronk et al., 2011 ). More generally, EFs support the coordination of thoughts and actions in a goal-directed manner and are essential for success in education, work, and everyday living ( Hofmann et al., 2012 ).

Research also suggest that the EF processes of updating, inhibition, and shifting support higher-order processes involved in problem-solving ( Burton et al., 2006 ), metacognition ( Fernandez-Duque et al., 2000 ), and decision-making ( Del Missier et al., 2010 ). EFs are particularly important in situations or tasks which are novel or where learned automatic responses are not adaptive and therefore additional control is required ( Hofmann et al., 2012 ). Situations requiring CT fulfill these criteria and EFs may be important to sustain ongoing efforts at CT. Furthermore, mindfulness may support EFs ( Chiesa et al., 2011 ). Considering the operational definition of mindfulness, which involves present-moment awareness and non-reactivity, we propose a relationship between components of mindfulness and component EFs. The sustained attention to present-moment experience developed through mindfulness practice likely requires the ability to switch attention between stimuli in current experience and back to current experience when the mind wanders ( Bishop et al., 2004 ). In the language of working memory theory, this implies continuous updating of the thought-action representations which make up the contents of working memory as current experience changes and shifting between these thought-action representations ( Teper and Inzlicht, 2013 ). Engaging this present-moment attention in a non-reactive manner then requires the inhibition of elaborative processing of such representations ( Hayes and Shenk, 2004 ; Holas and Jankowski, 2012 ). Recent research has shown that EF mediates the relationship between mindfulness and positive and negative affect ( Short et al., 2015 ) but no studies have examined the indirect effects of specific mindfulness facets through specific components of EF on outcomes usually associated with CT ability.

A number of studies have reported direct effects of mindfulness on specific components of EF. For example, several studies show a positive effect of mindfulness practice on the ability to inhibit automatic responses. Mindfulness practice over a 6 weeks period improved performance on a backward inhibition task ( Greenberg et al., 2012a ) and eight sessions of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy improved performance on the Hayling task ( Heeren et al., 2009 ) – measures which are commonly used to assess inhibition. Studies employing the Stroop task have found better performance in experienced meditators than novices ( Chan and Woollacott, 2007 ), after a 15 min mindfulness meditation ( Wenk-Sormaz, 2005 ) and following a 6-weeks mindfulness training ( Allen et al., 2012 ). However, one study reported no improvement in Stroop performance after an 8-weeks mindfulness-based stress reduction program (MBSR; Anderson et al., 2007 ).

Studies have also reported a positive link between mindfulness and the ability to switch between thought-action representations in working memory. Chambers et al. (2007) examined the effects of self-reported increases in mindfulness following a 10-days mindfulness retreat and found that improvement in switching performance was significantly correlated with increases in the tendency to employ mindful attention. Relative to a control condition, this experimental group showed improvement on the Internal Switching task, which measures switching between positive and negative affective words ( Chambers et al., 2007 ). Using the Attention Network Task, Jha et al. (2007) found that relative to controls, participants in a MBSR course showed improved attention switching ability. In another study by Hodgins and Adair (2010) , participants in a mindfulness training group performed better than controls on a task requiring participants to switch between visual perspectives. However, null effects have been reported in other studies. For example, Lykins et al. (2010) found no differences between novice and experienced meditators on the Color Trails test, and Anderson et al. (2007) found no change in performance on an attention switching task after an 8-weeks MBSR course.

Though no studies have examined the effects of mindfulness practice on working memory updating specifically, the effects of mindfulness on working memory capacity has been examined. One study reported that, after a 10-days mindfulness retreat, working memory capacity improved in a mindfulness group compared to a waitlist control-group ( Chambers et al., 2007 ). Also, in a study that compared mindfulness training with an active control-group, working memory capacity showed improvement in the mindfulness group indexed by both the forward/backward digit span of the WAIS and the n-back task ( Zeidan et al., 2010 ). Furthermore, in a military group prior to deployment, the deleterious effects of stress on working memory capacity were buffered against for those participants who reported high levels of mindfulness practice during an intervention ( Jha et al., 2010 ).

Having presented evidence for the claim that mindfulness broadly supports self-regulation and that a key mechanism underlying this effect may be the enhancement of EF, the link between self-regulatory processes, EFs, and CT will now be discussed. In doing so, it is useful to consider dual processing accounts of higher-order cognition as a useful theoretical framework which can integrate the findings discussed in previous sections. In these accounts, researchers have proposed that two separate cognitive systems are available to us when higher-order cognition such as judgment, reasoning, decision-making or problem-solving is to be carried out ( Evans, 2003 , 2011 ; Kahneman, 2011 ; Evans and Stanovich, 2013 ). Indeed, Hart et al. (2013) suggested Kahneman’s (2011) description of dual-process theory as a framework for explaining the cognitive benefits of mindfulness interventions. They suggested that mindfulness prompts the self-regulation of attention which activates system 2 or reflective thinking. However, the Default-interventionist dual process theory of higher-order cognition may offer a more refined view as it specifies the mechanisms by which this self-regulation occurs and the conditions under which it will lead to an optimal response ( Evans and Stanovich, 2013 ). This particular theory suggests that higher-order cognition, such as effective CT, requires inhibition of default Type 1 processes, which by definition exert minimal working memory load and occur automatically in response to stimuli ( West et al., 2008 ). It is assumed that CT skills involve working memory driven Type 2 processes, which are typically slow, limited in capacity, conscious, and controlled. These Type 2 processes will be most effective when working memory is being updated efficiently as new information arises. However, exactly how EF relates to CT has not been investigated empirically ( Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga et al., 2012 ). As noted above, mindfulness facilitates the executive mechanisms of working memory which are critical to engaging Type 2 processes. Furthermore, mindfulness training does appear to be beneficial for other higher-order thinking skills which may also depend on EF such as insight problem-solving ( Ostafin and Kassman, 2012 ; Wen et al., 2013 ), moral reasoning and ethical decision-making ( Cottone and Javier, 2007 ; Ruedy and Schweitzer, 2011 ; Shapiro et al., 2012 ). Each of these studies emphasized the non-automatic orientation to experience that mindfulness brings and which is characteristic of the engagement of EF and Type-2 processing but they did not examine whether EF mediated the effect of mindfulness on these cognitive outcomes. Therefore, we hypothesize that mindfulness may facilitate CT skills, and engagement of Type 2 processing in general, via enhancement of the EFs governing working memory. We explore this possibility by testing whether EF mediates the relationship between mindfulness and CT.

In light of the available evidence, several more specific predictions can be made about how components of mindfulness, EF, and CT are related. The current study adopted a multiple indicator individual differences study approach to test the following hypotheses using structural equation modeling (SEM):

1. First, it is hypothesized that the measurement model for mindfulness will support the two-component conceptualisation of mindfulness with observing representing present-moment awareness and non-reactivity representing non-reactive monitoring of one’s ongoing experience.

2. Second, it is hypothesized that the measurement model for EF will support the three-component unity/diversity model which proposes that updating, inhibition, and shifting are related but distinct components of EF.

3. Third, it is hypothesized that present-moment awareness and non-reactivity will be positively associated with CT performance. Notably, present-moment mindful awareness, often referred to as observing, has been associated with an enhanced ability to pick up relevant information ( Carson and Langer, 2006 ), whereas non-reactivity has been shown to interrupt the biasing of information processing by both emotional state ( Kiken and Shook, 2011 ) and temperament ( Feltman et al., 2009 ). Using appropriate information free from bias is vital for effective CT ( West et al., 2008 ). Therefore, we predict that higher scores on self-reported measures of both observing and non-reactivity will predict higher CT performance.

4. Fourth, it is hypothesized that self-reported observing or present-moment awareness will be positively related to the ability to (a) update the contents of working memory, (b) shift between different working memory representations, and (c) inhibit prepotent responses. Notably, previous research has linked greater skills of observation with better inhibitory control performance ( Schmertz et al., 2009 ) and with better performance on tasks requiring participants to switch flexibly from one thought to another ( Chambers et al., 2007 ). Higher self-reported observation skills has also been found to predict better performance on measures of working memory updating ( Anicha et al., 2011 ).

5. Fifth, it is expected that non-reactivity will be positively related to inhibition and shifting. Non-reactivity has been associated with both behavioral and electrophysiological indicators of inhibition ( Teper and Inzlicht, 2013 ) and greater cognitive flexibility ( Anicha et al., 2011 ).

6. Sixth, it is expected that updating, shifting, and inhibition will be positively related to CT. CT may be most effective when information held in working memory is efficiently updated as new information is presented, when switching from one perspective to another is efficient, and when heuristic and biased responses and distractions are inhibited ( West et al., 2008 ; Sanz de Acedo Lizarraga et al., 2012 ).

7. Finally, it is expected that the relationship between mindfulness and CT will be mediated by EF. To date no research has investigated the mechanisms by which mindfulness facilitates higher-order thinking skills. In light of theoretical work in the dual-processing tradition and research on mindfulness, self-regulation and higher-order thinking skills, we propose EF as a key mechanism driving this relationship. Establishing a mediational relationship between mindfulness, EF, and CT is necessary in order to support this proposition that the application of EF is a mechanism through which mindfulness facilitates CT performance ( Baron and Kenny, 1986 ; Ostafin et al., 2013b ).

Materials and Methods

Participants.

One hundred and seventy eight university undergraduate psychology students (Mean age = 21.04; SD = 5.77; 39 males; 139 females) attending the National University of Ireland, Galway, participated in the study. A priori calculations using Soper’s (2015) SEM sample size calculator suggested a minimum sample size of 156 was required for analysis to yield adequate power. This was based on a small-medium anticipated effect size (0.2), six latent predictor variables, 20 observed variables and a desired power level of 0.8 at a probability level of 0.05. Participants were recruited by e-mail and an online participant recruitment system. They were awarded credit as part of their course requirement. Participant were over 18 and were required to have English as their first language or university level English (i.e., equivalent to 80 on TOEFL or 6.5 on IELTS; both are recognized tests of English as a foreign language). Exclusion criteria included those with alcohol and drug dependency (including prescribed sedation medications) and those with visual and hearing impairments not corrected to normal (as required for the computer tasks). This study was given ethical approval by the NUIG Research Ethics Committee.

Study Design

The study employed a cross-sectional, individual differences design to examine the relationships between the observing and non-reactivity components of mindfulness, the updating, shifting, and inhibition components of EF and CT skills. SEM was used to test the model of specified relations between mindfulness, EF, and CT. SEM allows for multiple hypotheses to be tested simultaneously. SEM is best suited to test hypotheses patterns of direct and indirect relationships between theoretical concepts which contain observed and latent variables ( MacCallum and Austin, 2000 ). In assessing EF, a latent variable approach (LVA) is best as it resolves the task impurity problem. This is a problem inherent in using individual EF tasks where non-executive processes contaminate the examination of executive processes ( Miyake et al., 2000 ; Miyake and Friedman, 2012 ). LVA allows identification of how performance on multiple exemplar tasks is statistically shared (in this case the executive process), thus giving a truer measure of the construct underlying these tasks which can then be related to a target manifest variable, in this case CT ( Del Missier et al., 2010 ). This means that two tasks for each of updating, switching, and inhibition were used in this study in order to compute latent variables for each EF. This approach has been used to investigate the role of in EF in decision-making ( Del Missier et al., 2010 ), fluid intelligence ( Friedman et al., 2006 ), and attentional difficulties ( Friedman et al., 2007 ).

Apparatus and Materials

All computer tasks were conducted on a Dell computer with a 15 in LCD monitor. The EF tasks were administered using the MATLAB software program which recorded reaction times and error commission.

Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form (FFMQ-SF; Bohlmeijer et al., 2011 )

The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Short Form (FFMQ-SF) is a 24 items measure consisting of five subscales (observing, describing, acting with awareness, non-judging of inner experience, and non-reactivity to inner experience). The FFQM-SF employs a five-point Likert scale (e.g., 1 = never or very rarely true; 5 = very often or always true). For the purpose of the current study, the scores obtained for the observing and non-reactivity facets were the main focus. This multi-facet scale includes four observing items (e.g., “I pay attention to sounds, such as clocks ticking, birds chirping, or cars passing”) and five non-reactivity items (e.g., “I perceive my feelings and emotions without having to react to them”). The current study used non-reactivity and observing sub-scales to measure mindfulness, as these are the most widely agreed upon components of mindfulness analyzed in the empirical literature ( Anicha et al., 2011 ). The non-reactivity sub-scale showed good reliability (α = 0.72) as did the observing sub-scale (α = 0.71).

Executive Functions Measures

Six executive tasks were administered to all participants to assess the three core components of EFs; Shifting, Updating , and Inhibition . For all tasks, participants were asked to respond as quickly and accurately as possible. The dependent variables for each task were the proportions of accurate responses. We followed Miyake et al. (2000) in using these dependent measures for all but the switching tasks. While switch costs are often examined in terms of reaction time, it is not uncommon to examine accuracy costs in terms of the proportion of accurate responses on switch trials ( Sy et al., 2013 ). This method was chosen to avoid any potentially unique variance that could be attributed to reaction time and in light of evidence that reaction time switch costs do not reflect executive processes ( Logan and Bundesen, 2003 ).

The following two tasks were used to measure Shifting:

Plus–minus task

The plus–minus task ( Jersild, 1927 ; Spector and Biederman, 1976 adapted by Miyake et al., 2000 ) consists of three blocks in which 30 two-digit numbers are presented. In the first block participants are required to add 3 to each number. In the second block they are required to subtract 3 from each number. In the final block participant are required to alternate between adding 3 and subtracting 3 from each number (i.e., add 3 from the first number, subtract 3 from the next number and so forth). The proportion of accurate responses on switch trials was the dependent variable.

Number–letter task

The number–letter task ( Miyake et al., 2000 ) is presented in three blocks. In the first block (32 trials) number–letter pairs are presented in the top two quadrants of a square grid on a computer screen. The participant is instructed to indicate whether the number is odd or even. In the second block (32 trials) the number–letter pair is presented in the bottom quadrants of the grid. In this block the participants are instructed to indicate whether a letter is vowel or consonant. In the final block number–letter pairs are presented in all quadrants of the grid. When they appear in the top quadrants, participants have to indicate whether the number is odd or even, and when they appeared in the bottom quadrants they had to indicate if a letter is a vowel or a consonant. Therefore in the third block, half of the trails require the participant to shift between the two types of categorisation. The dependent measure was the proportion of accurate responses on switch trials.

The following two tasks were used to measure Updating :

Tone monitoring task

In the tone monitoring task ( Miyake et al., 2000 ) participants are presented with 25 tones of low, middle, and high frequency which are delivered over four trial blocks. The tones are presented for 500 ms each with an interval of 2500 ms. Each trial block consist of eight high-pitched tones (880 Hz), eight medium- pitched tones (440 Hz) and eight low- pitched tones (220 Hz), with the addition of 1 tone selected randomly from the other three for a total of 25. There were four blocks and six potential correct answers per block. Whenever one of the tones was played for the fourth time, the participant had to respond by pressing the corresponding key – 1 for low, 2 for medium, and 3 for high – while maintaining a count of the occurrences of the other tones in working memory. In order to avoid the impact of momentary mental lapse on task performance the tone count for each pitch automatically resets to 0 after incorrect responses. A different error tone would be heard on this occurrence. The dependent measure was the proportion of correct responses.

Letter-memory task

The letter-memory task ( Miyake et al., 2000 ) involves constantly updating a series of letters in working memory. A series of letters are presented in succession in each trial for the duration of 2000 ms per letter. Participants are required rehearse the last four letters presented in the list, and then report the last four letters in the series at the end of each trial. The number of letters presented (5, 7, 9, or 11) varied randomly across trials to avoid habituation to trial length. The dependent measure is the proportion of correctly recalled letters.

The following two tasks were used to measure Inhibition :

Anti-saccade task

The anti-saccade task ( Kane et al., 2001 ) requires participants to detect a sudden-onset visual cue and use that cue to direct their attention to a specific location that will contain a target stimulus. In the first block the cue appears in the same location as the target. In the second block the cue appears on the opposite side to the target. In this block when the cue predictably signals a location that does not contain the target, participants must voluntarily redirect their gaze from the cue to the target, ignoring the salient cue, and respond to the target. Participant must therefore maintain their goal (i.e., response to target) despite interference. The dependent measure was the proportion of correctly identified targets.

Stop-signal task

The stop-signal task ( Miyake et al., 2000 ) requires inhibition of a learned response. This task is presented in two blocks. In the first block participants are presented with 24 words one-by-one (e.g., duck, gun), they are instructed to indicate if the word was an animal or not by means of button presses (i.e., left = animal, right = not). In the second block participants were instructed not to respond when they heard a tone. If no tone was played they were required to respond as they did in the first block. In all trials a fixation point appears on the screen 500 ms prior to the presentation of the stimulus and participants are given up to 1500 ms to make their response. The dependent measure was the proportion of correctly withheld responses for the stop trials.

Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment ( Halpern, 2010 )

The Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment (HCTA) assesses thinking in everyday, easy to relate to scenarios. It taps both the motivational and behavioral parts of CT by including both open-ended and multiple choice questions ( Ku, 2009 ). The assessment consists of 25 everyday situations that the participant must analyze and critique. Following these situations are 25 open-ended questions followed by 25 specific questions that assess the reasoning behind each answer. Across these questions five sub-categories of thinking skills must be applied including argument analysis skills, verbal reasoning skills, hypothesis testing skills, likelihood and uncertainty judgment skills and decision making/problem solving skills. There are five items for each sub-category of CT with the maximum points possible for each sub-category varying. Scoring of the HCTA was carried out by three trained graders. The scoring guide provides answers for forced-choice questions while open-ended questions are graded according to specific grading prompts (for more detail see Dwyer et al., 2012 ). Greater scores are awarded to more accurate and comprehensive answers and total scores can range from 0 to 194 ( Halpern, 2010 ). The internal reliability of the HTCA was found to be adequate with a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.79 in this study which corresponds to robust reliability found in other samples ( Halpern, 2010 ; Dwyer et al., 2012 ).

All participants first completed the HCTA and the FFMQ-SF questionnaire online (along with other measures not pertinent to this study) at a separate location (e.g., home or campus computers). The online questionnaires were administered using Survey Gizmo. At a later date, within a month of online testing, all participants were administered six computerized EF tasks in a laboratory cubicle at the School of Psychology building at NUI Galway. Here, participant consent was again obtained (following provision of informed consent online). A pseudo-random counterbalancing strategy was applied to the task order, involving six orders with no two orders repeating the order of consecutive pairs of tasks. This would have kept any EF depletion or fatigue effects constant across tasks and participants. At the end of each task participants were prompted to call the researcher, the researcher then applied the specified order when initiating the next task. The laboratory session took approximately 1 h to complete for each participant.

Analytic Approach

The approach to analysis consisted of four stages. First, a series of measurement models were used to evaluate the mindfulness and EF constructs. Second, a structural model of EF and CT was evaluated. Third, a structural model of dispositional mindfulness, EF, and CT was evaluated based on the structural model established in the second stage. Finally, a multiple mediator analysis was carried out by examining the direct and indirect effects between the mindfulness factors of Observing and Non-reactivity, the EF factors of Updating, Inhibition and Shifting and CT in order to determine the nature of any mediation/non-mediation present.

A summary of the descriptive statistics for variables representing mindfulness, EF, and CT performance can be seen in Table 1 along with correlations between them. Most variables had relatively low values for skewness and kurtosis except for the Number–Letter, Letter Memory, and Anti-saccade tasks. Arc Sin transformations, which are often employed with proportional measures, were successful in achieving acceptable kurtosis and skewness values for the EF task dependent measures. Due to computer program malfunctions, some participants ( N = 7) did not have scores for specific EF tasks. EM substitution was carried out in order to treat missing data since each of these participants only had missing scores for one particular task. Reliability for all measures was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and was adequate for all except the Stop Signal task. Correlations among the variables were consistent with previous studies ( Miyake et al., 2000 ; Friedman et al., 2006 , 2008 ; Del Missier et al., 2010 ). Descriptive statistics, correlation analyses, reliability analyses, and EM substitution were all carried out using SPSS 20 ( IBM corp, 2011 ). Measurement models, structural models and mediation analyses were conducted in AMOS 22 ( Arbuckle, 2013 ).

TABLE 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations for mindfulness, executive functions, and critical thinking 1 .

Measurement Models

Mindfulness.

The two factor model of the FFMQ-SF using sub-scales of non-reactivity and observing indicated good model fit. The chi-square test was non-significant (33.12, p = 0.16) with TLI (0.97), IFI (0.98) and CFI (0.98) values all above 0.95 and a RMSEA value of 0.04 [0.00 -0.08]. Furthermore, all factor loadings ranged between 0.46 and 0.85. Notably, it was a much better fit than a one factor model for which the chi-square test was significant (200.161, p < 0.001), the TLI (0.22), IFI (0.43) and CFI (0.42) values were all below 0.45 and the RMSEA value was above 0.08 (0.19 [0.00 -0.08]).

Executive Function

Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to compare models with one, two, three or no related factors. This was done by first testing the full three-factor model and then testing the alternative models nested within the full model, achieved by fixing specific correlations among the latent variables in the following ways – for the one factor models, all correlations were fixed to 1.0, for the two factor models, the correlation between the various pairs of unitary latent variables was fixed to 1.0 while the other two were allowed to vary freely and for the model with no relationships among the three factors (i.e., independence), all correlations were fixed to zero. It was expected that the full three factor model would provide the best fit to the data. Of these possibilities, a nested two factor model with the covariance between the Shifting and Updating factors constrained to one provided the most adequate fit to the data. However, given the low factor loadings of the Plus–Minus and Number–Letter tasks on the Shifting factor, it was decided to drop the Shifting factor from further analyses. The resulting model demonstrated adequate fit with a non-significant chi-square test (3.83, p = 0.05), and IFI and CFI values of 0.95 (although the TLI value was an inadequate 0.67). This model had an AIC value of 21.83 and AIC values for the competing models were all worse, ranging from 36.20 for the nested two factor model described above to 124.23 for the three independent factors model.

Structural Models

Executive function and critical thinking.

Following Miyake et al. (2000) , this stage involved adding CT performance as a manifest variable to the EF model supported in the previous stage. Potential paths from the latent variables to the CT manifest variable were evaluated. Models with either two or one path(s) (i.e., paths from both inhibition and updating, or paths from either inhibition or updating) to the CT manifest variable were compared to determine the paths necessary to provide the best fit to the observed data. The two-path model fit the observed data best (see Table 2 ) and demonstrated a strong significant relationship between Updating and CT (β = 3.25, p = 0.04). In order for this model and the one-path model connecting Updating and CT to identify, the error variance of CT was fixed to 0.001. This is acceptable in cases where a model will not identify due to negative error variance but the estimate of negative error variance is not statistically significantly different from 0 ( Dillon et al., 1987 ).

TABLE 2. Fit indices for structural models of executive functions and critical thinking.

Mindfulness, Executive Function, and Critical Thinking

This stage involved adding the Observing and Non-reactivity facets of dispositional mindfulness as manifest variables to the model supported in the previous stage. A model with the hypothesized paths was compared against two reference structural models with one assuming no relation between both mindfulness facets and the three latent EF variables and one assuming that each facet is related to each EF. For the hypothesized model to be supported, it needed to demonstrate a better fit to the data than the model assuming no relations and the fit had to be no worse than the full path model. This analysis strategy is similar to that employed by Del Missier et al. (2010) . To achieve the best possible fit, the error variances for the Tone Monitoring scores and the Letter Memory scores respectively were allowed to co-vary with the error variance for the Anti-saccade task, as suggested by the modification indices. Examination of the model fit indices demonstrated that the hypothesized model was supported (see Table 3 ). Parameter estimates revealed a significant positive relationship between Observing and Inhibition and a weak but significant negative relationship between Non-reactivity and CT (see Table 4 ).

TABLE 3. Fit indices for structural models of mindfulness, executive functions, and critical thinking.

TABLE 4. Estimates in the multiple mediation model.

Multiple Mediation Model

In order to investigate whether the effects of the Observing and Non-reactivity facets of dispositional mindfulness on CT were mediated by EF, a multiple mediation analysis ( MacKinnon et al., 2007 ) was carried out. Figure 1 displays the model which was examined. The first step in the multiple mediation analysis involved quantifying the direct effects of mindfulness on both EF and CT respectively. More specifically, it required examining the paths leading directly from the dispositional mindfulness facets of Observing and Non-reactivity to the EF latent variables, and from both the mindfulness and EF factors to CT. Then the specific indirect effects were quantified. Here these are defined as the effects leading from a mindfulness factor via each EF factor to CT. Following this, the total indirect effects were calculated by summing the specific indirect effects. Lastly, the direct effect of each mindfulness factor (i.e., Observing and Non-reactivity respectively) on CT and their corresponding specific indirect effect were summed to find the total effects . These effects were estimated, along with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs), using bias corrected bootstrapping with 5,000 draws specified, as recommended (see Table 4 ; Kline, 2011 ).

FIGURE 1. Multiple mediation model of mindfulness facets, executive functions, and critical thinking with standardized direct effects and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), using bias corrected bootstrapping for indirect effects. ∗ p < 0.05; ∗∗ p < 0.01; ∗∗∗ p < 0.001.

The different patterns of mediation/non-mediation present can be described using an approach developed by Zhao et al. (2010) . The significance of both the indirect and direct effects were examined to determine whether meditation is present and, if it was, whether it was complementary (where both indirect and direct effects are significant and the multiplication of their estimates is positive), competitive (where both indirect and direct effects are significant and the multiplication of their estimates is negative) or indirect only [where there is no significant direct effect but the indirect effects is significant – full mediation in Baron and Kenny’s (1986) terms]. It was found that for the path leading from Non-Reactivity to CT through Inhibition that there was evidence for competitive mediation since the direct effect of Non-Reactivity on CT was significant but negative while its specific indirect effect through Inhibition was significant and positive. For the path from Observing to CT through Inhibition, evidence for indirect-only mediation was present as this specific indirect path was significant and positive but the direct path from Observing to CT was not significant. Since the indirect path from Observing to CT through Updating was not significant either, Updating cannot be considered a mediator of the relationship between Observing and CT in this model. Overall, the model explained 36.3% of the variance in CT. There was no difference in strength between the two significant specific indirect effects observed which indicates that they both affect CT performance to a similar extent ( p = 0.22).

This study sought to investigate the claim that higher dispositional mindfulness facilitates CT performance. This claim was based on previous research on the cognitive benefits of mindfulness and the self-regulation of higher-order cognition more generally and insights from the Default Interventionist theory of Hisgher-order Cognition. Furthermore, this study aimed to examine whether EF performance operates as a mechanism through which mindfulness facilitates CT. Relations between the observing and non-reactivity facets of mindfulness, the EF processes of updating, shifting and inhibition, and CT performance were examined using SEM. This analysis revealed a number of interesting findings in relation to the specified hypotheses.

Our first hypothesis stated that the two-component model of mindfulness would be found to be a better fit than a one-factor solution. This conceptualisation made use of the observing and non-reactivity subscales of the Five Factor Mindfulness Questionnaire. These sub-scales represent the most supported operational definition of mindfulness and have been found to have dissociable cognitive correlates ( Anicha et al., 2011 ). Consistent with our first hypothesis, the two-component model of mindfulness was supported and used in the subsequent SEMs.

Our second hypothesis concerned the structure of EF. Specifically, consistent with Miyake et al. (2000) unity and diversity model of EF and subsequent research supporting this ( Del Missier et al., 2010 ; Miyake and Friedman, 2012 ), it was hypothesized that the measurement model for EF would support a three-factor model structure which proposes that updating, inhibition, and shifting are related but distinct components of EF. EF was assessed using a battery of tasks measuring the skills of updating, inhibition and switching to which a latent variable analysis was applied. A two-factor solution was found to be optimal in the current study, with the updating and inhibition factors retained as the inclusion of the shifting tasks led to problems in identifying a positive definite covariance matrix. This could be due to the ceiling effects found for these tasks in the current sample. Factor loadings were in the range reported in previous studies ( Miyake et al., 2000 ; Del Missier et al., 2010 ).

The third hypothesis focused on the direct effects of mindfulness on CT. It was expected that both observing and non-reactivity would be positively related to CT. Results indicated no direct effect of observing on CT. However, there was a positive, indirect effect of observing on CT that was mediated by inhibition, suggesting that observing influences EF which in turn influences CT ability. This indirect effect is discussed in more detail below in regard to our final hypothesis. Converse to our hypotheses, non-reactivity was found to be significantly negatively related to CT. This is an interesting finding which suggests the possible existence of mediators not accounted for by the model which may have a debilitative effect on CT performance. Potential candidates include worry and repetitive thought, emotional regulation and positive mood, and non-elaborative processing. For example, mindfulness has been shown to reduce habitual worry and evidence suggests that a key mechanism underlying this is the negative relationship between non-reactivity and repetitive thought ( Evans and Segerstrom, 2011 ). Furthermore, responsibility to continue thinking, a process underlying habitual worry, has been shown to be important for effective CT ( Sugiura, 2013 ). It is possible that in reducing repetitive thought and worry, non-reactivity could indirectly impair CT performance. Similarly, as regards the possible role of emotional regulation, non-reactivity is thought to require executive control to inhibit the elaboration of acute affective cues ( Teper et al., 2013 ), and this has been shown to result in the down-regulation of negative affect and increases in positive affect ( Chambers et al., 2009 ). However, this pattern of emotional regulation may result in sub-optimal conditions for CT performance since negative affect tends to facilitate the engagement of EF and positive affect increases the probability of intuitive thinking ( Bolte et al., 2003 ; Fiedler et al., 2003 ; Teper et al., 2013 ; Inzlicht et al., 2015 ). It is also possible that the measure of non-reactivity used in the current study captures a tendency for non-elaborative processing beyond just affective cues. The questionnaire items used to assess non-reactivity focus on the ability to “let go” soon after the experience of distressing thoughts, rather than persisting with the thoughts. This dispositional tendency may lead to less cognitive effort being engaged when thinking in stressful, problem situations, which a test such as the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment could be considered to be. Cognitive effort is vital for effective CT performance ( Stanovich, 2011 ) and it is possible that high levels of non-reactivity are associated with low levels of cognitive effort in some situations. It is possible that any one of these factors, or a combination, could account for the negative relationship found between non-reactivity and CT in the current study. However, further research is needed to replicate the findings observed in the current study and examine these and other explanatory mechanisms in more detail.

Our fourth hypothesis specified direct relations between observing and the EF components. It was expected that observing would be positively related to updating, inhibition, and shifting. Observing was not found to predict updating in the current study, and it was not correlated with shifting performance, but observing did predict inhibition as hypothesized. Much previous research has linked mindfulness skill with enhanced inhibition ( Heeren et al., 2009 ; Sahdra et al., 2011 ; Greenberg et al., 2012b ). Predictions of a link between observing and inhibition were based on process descriptions of mindfulness, which emphasize the inhibition of elaborative processing in order to keep one’s attention focused on observing the present-moment ( Bishop et al., 2004 ). This is an important finding as the proposed relationship between mindfulness and inhibition is often invoked in explaining how mindfulness disrupts automatic thinking across studies of the outcomes of mindfulness (e.g., Frewen et al., 2007 ; Kang et al., 2012 ; Ostafin and Kassman, 2012 ; Ostafin et al., 2013a ). Studies have also suggested the benefits of mindfulness practice for working memory operation and the link between observing and working memory updating has been theorized previously ( Jha et al., 2010 ; Anicha et al., 2011 ; van Vugt and Jha, 2011 ; Mrazek et al., 2013 ). The lack of a direct relationship between observing and updating in the current study may reflect the approach the study adopted. Most studies focusing on the effects of mindfulness on working memory have involved training interventions and the only finding of a positive relationship between observing and working memory updating from a dispositional perspective may have been due to perceptual rather than executive benefits ( Anicha et al., 2011 ). It is possible that specific mindfulness training is required in order for individual differences in working memory updating to emerge in relation to skills in observing.

The fifth hypothesis, concerning the relationship between non-reactivity and inhibition was not supported, contrary to previous findings from mindfulness training studies ( Anicha et al., 2011 ; Teper et al., 2013 ). Regarding the relationship between non-reactivity and shifting, no significant relationships were observed. It is surprising to find no direct effects of non-reactivity on any component of EF since the engagement of executive control to suppress the elaboration of affective cues is considered to be central to non-reactive information processing ( Teper and Inzlicht, 2013 ). However, a recent study found a significant but small negative effect of non-reactivity on self-reported behavior regulation, which includes items related to inhibition and shifting ( Short et al., 2015 ). Non-reactivity skills have been shown to take longer to develop than observing skills in training studies ( Lilja et al., 2012 ) and perhaps more explicit guidance and practice are needed to demonstrate significant links between non-reactivity and EF. Furthermore, the self-report of non-reactivity outside of mindfulness training contexts may be different to the self-report of this ability after some exposure to mindfulness practices, and thus relations between mindfulness dispositions and EF may differ across different study contexts ( Van Dam et al., 2009 ).

Our sixth hypothesis stated that the EF components would each exert significant direct, positive effects on CT. Consistent with our hypothesis, both updating and inhibition were significantly and positively associated with CT in the final SEM model. The effect of updating on CT was stronger than that of inhibition. One possible explanation for this pattern of findings is that updating is more important for sustained high level performance on the Halpern task. For instance, once the initial intuitive response to a situation in the Halpern Critical Thinking Assessment is inhibited, updating is continuously engaged as the contents of working memory are manipulated and revised and as more information is gleaned from the question. Another possibility is that the low reliability for the Stop Signal task contributed to the weaker effect of inhibition. Importantly, this is the first study to demonstrate a relationship between specific EFs and CT performance. This finding aligns with previous research suggesting the importance of working memory for effective CT ( Dwyer et al., 2014 ) and is in line with the Default Interventionist theory which emphasizes the necessity of working memory operations for Type 2 processes such as CT ( Evans and Stanovich, 2013 ).

Finally, it was hypothesized that the relationship between mindfulness and CT would be mediated by EF. Using SEM to conduct a multiple mediation analysis, it was found that there was evidence for inhibition mediating the relationships between CT and both observing and non-reactivity. The relationship between observing, inhibition and CT is considered to be indirect-only mediation [or full mediation in Baron and Kenny’s (1986) terms] since no direct effect of observing on CT was found. This finding suggests that the entirety of the effect of present-moment mindful observation on CT is due to it being positively related to inhibition. Evidence for competitive mediation was found for the relationship between non-reactivity, inhibition, and mindfulness. This means that while there was a negative direct effect of non-reactivity on CT, there was a positive indirect effect of non-reactivity on CT that was mediated by inhibition. This positive indirect effect makes sense considering the fact that non-reactivity has been assumed to reduce automatic responding and promote more reflective responses ( Peters et al., 2015 ). This competitive relationship suggests the presence of additional mediators not accounted for by the model, as discussed above, which act independently of the positive indirect relationship ( Zhao et al., 2010 ). The observation that inhibition acts as a mediator of both components of mindfulness in this model provides evidence for inhibition as a core mechanism of the effect of mindfulness on CT. This mechanism has been suggested in several previous studies showing facilitative effects of mindfulness on higher-order cognition ( Cottone and Javier, 2007 ; Ruedy and Schweitzer, 2011 ; Ostafin et al., 2013b ; Wen et al., 2013 ) but has never been explicitly demonstrated before. This finding ties the relationship between mindfulness, EF, and CT closely to the Default Interventionist Dual Process Theory of Higher-order Cognition which posits that it is through the inhibition of the prepotent tendency to accept the outcomes of Type 1 processes that Type 2 higher-order cognitive processes such as CT are engaged ( Stanovich and Toplak, 2012 ).

This study had several strengths. Methodologically speaking, it employed objective behavioral measures of both EF and CT. It had a relatively large sample size to allow for the reliable identification of effects using SEM ( Soper, 2015 ). The use of SEM also accounted for the task impurity problem in the measurement of EF and allowed multiple mediation to be examined. While previous research has suggested that mindfulness can facilitate higher-order thinking skills in general, its effect on CT specifically had not been examined and no attempts had been made to identify the mechanisms driving this relationship. This study also sheds light on the extent to which particular executive processes are implicated in CT. By identifying links between literature on mindfulness and self-regulation, and studies on the self-regulation of higher-order cognition it was hypothesized that EF would mediate the effect of mindfulness on CT. Consistent with Evans and Stanovich’s (2013) default interventionist dual process theory of higher-order cognition, it appears that mindfulness may be enabling the engagement of Type-2 processing as a result of its positive effects on EF, particularly inhibition. This study adds to the very few studies that have focused on the effects of dispositional mindfulness in psychologically healthy individuals ( Petrocchi and Ottaviani, 2015 ) and increases our knowledge regarding the mechanisms by which mindfulness enhances higher-order cognition.

However, there are some weaknesses to this study. As with any cross-sectional study, caution must be taken in interpreting these findings as causal. However, as the model fit was good, the hypothesized causal relations can be said to be plausible ( Bollen and Pearl, 2013 ) and can be used as the basis for further experimental work that examines causal hypotheses in controlled settings. The use of a self-report measure to assess dispositional mindfulness and the use of non-practitioners of mindfulness mean that further research is needed before the results of the current study can be generalized to the practice of mindfulness. Furthermore, debate continues regarding the validity of self-report measures of dispositional mindfulness. While investigations involving the FFMQ suggest that the non-reactivity facet represents its corresponding aspect of mindfulness well, divergent views exist regarding how best to measure the present-moment attention aspect with some studies supporting the acting with awareness facet ( Rau and Williams, 2015 ) and others supporting the observing facet ( Anicha et al., 2011 ). It is clear that further refinement of the FFMQ is required to increase its validity ( Petrocchi and Ottaviani, 2015 ). As regards the measurement of EF, despite adequate piloting a number of participants did not understand the switching task, while others found it too easy which produced a ceiling effect. This led to low factor loadings on the shifting factor and much better fit when this factor was dropped, thus not supporting the common conceptualisation of the unity/diversity model of EF. Any Speed-Accuracy Trade-Off advantage, sometimes observed in more mindful individuals ( van Vugt and Jha, 2011 ), would not have been captured by the proportional accuracy dependent variables employed here. However, this has only been observed in individuals trained in mindfulness and thus may not have had an effect in the current study. Finally, the measures of EF we employed were purely performance based. It has been suggested that including both self-reported measures of EF and self-regulation and performance-based measures is important for increasing ecological validity ( Toplak et al., 2013 ). Future investigations could include measures such as the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions which has been shown recently to mediate the relationship between mindfulness and both positive and negative affect independently of and to a greater extent than performance-based EF tasks ( Short et al., 2015 ).

In summary, dispositional mindfulness appears to facilitate, albeit weakly, CT performance and this effect is mediated by the inhibition component of EF. However, this relationship is complex as the non-reactivity facet of mindfulness appears to have a competing negative effect on CT through as yet unidentified mediators. These findings suggest many possibilities for future research. In order to support the claim that mindfulness can improve CT in educational settings ( Shapiro et al., 2011 ), careful intervention research will be needed. Applying experimental designs to this research in both short-term lab settings and longer-term intervention contexts will be useful in learning more about the developmental trajectory of the relationship between mindfulness and CT and in identifying relevant mediators other than EF. Further focus on the role of EFs is important but additional mediators are likely and must be investigated. It would certainly be interesting to compare current CT instructional courses with similar courses infused with mindfulness lessons (e.g., Bush, 2011 ). However, it is important to first continue investigations of the basic relationships between mindfulness and higher-order cognitive skills in typically developing individuals and the mechanisms underlying any significant relationships found.

Author Contributions

Dr. MH and CN designed the study. CN collected the data, carried out data analysis and interpretation of the results and wrote the manuscript. Dr. MH reviewed, revised and approved the content of the manuscript. Prof. BB reviewed, gave advice and approved the statistical analyses.

This work was made possible by the award of a Galway Doctoral Research Scholarship to the first author.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Emilia Furey, Kathryn Joyce, and Mary O’Connor for assistance in data collection and Yao-Siang Su who programmed the tasks in MATLAB.

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Keywords : self-regulation, higher-order cognition, dispositional mindfulness, dual-process theory, critical thinking

Citation: Noone C, Bunting B and Hogan MJ (2016) Does Mindfulness Enhance Critical Thinking? Evidence for the Mediating Effects of Executive Functioning in the Relationship between Mindfulness and Critical Thinking. Front. Psychol. 6:2043. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02043

Received: 19 October 2015; Accepted: 22 December 2015; Published: 19 January 2016.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2016 Noone, Bunting and Hogan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Chris Noone, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Mindfulness meditation: A research-proven way to reduce stress

Mindfulness meditation can improve both mental and physical health.

• Mindfulness
• Mental Health

People have been meditating for thousands of years, often as part of a spiritual practice. But in more recent years, mindfulness has become a popular way to help people manage their stress and improve their overall well-being — and a wealth of research shows it’s effective. Psychologists have found that mindfulness meditation changes our brain and biology in positive ways, improving mental and physical health.

What is mindfulness meditation?

Meditation can be defined in many ways. But a simple way to think of it is training your attention  to achieve a mental state of calm concentration and positive emotions.

Mindfulness is one of the most popular meditation techniques. It has two main parts: attention and acceptance.

The attention piece is about tuning into your experiences to focus on what's happening in the present moment. It typically involves directing your awareness to your breath, your thoughts, the physical sensations in your body and the feelings you are experiencing. The acceptance piece involves observing those feelings and sensations without judgment. Instead of responding or reacting to those thoughts or feelings, you aim to note them and let them go.

Mindfulness classes and mindfulness-based therapies provide the tools to put those concepts into practice. Such programs might include breathing exercises, yoga and guided lessons to help you become aware of your body sensations, thoughts and feelings.

Much of the research on mindfulness has focused on two types of interventions:

• Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) is a therapeutic intervention that involves weekly group classes and daily mindfulness exercises to practice at home, over an 8-week period. MBSR teaches people how to increase mindfulness through yoga and meditation.
• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a therapeutic intervention that combines elements of MBSR and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to treat people with depression.

Researchers reviewed more than 200 studies of mindfulness among healthy people and found mindfulness-based therapy was especially effective for  reducing stress, anxiety and depression . Mindfulness can also help treat people with specific problems including depression, pain, smoking and addiction . Some of the most promising research has looked at people with depression. Several studies have found, for example, that MBCT can significantly reduce relapse in people who have had previous episodes of major depression . What's more, mindfulness-based interventions can  improve physical health , too. For example, mindfulness may  reduce pain, fatigue and stress in people with chronic pain . Other studies have found preliminary evidence that mindfulness might  boost the immune system and help people recover more quickly from cold or flu.

How mindfulness works

How could simply tuning into your thoughts and feelings lead to so many positive outcomes throughout the body? Researchers believe the benefits of mindfulness are related to its ability to dial down the body's response to stress.

Chronic stress can impair the body's immune system and make many other health problems worse. By lowering the stress response, mindfulness may have downstream effects throughout the body.

Psychological scientists have found that mindfulness influences  two different stress pathways in the brain , changing brain structures and activity in regions associated with  attention and emotion regulation . Scientists are also beginning to understand which elements of mindfulness are responsible for its beneficial effects. In a review of meditation studies, psychology researchers found strong evidence that people who received MBCT were less  likely to react with negative thoughts or unhelpful emotional reactions in times of stress . They also found moderate evidence that people who participated in MBCT or MBSR were better able to focus on the present and less likely to worry and to think about a negative thought or experience over and over.

[ Related:  6 mental health tips psychologists use]

How to get started

Ready to give it a try? Learning mindfulness is easier than ever. Mindfulness classes and interventions are widely available in settings including yoga centers, athletic clubs, hospitals and clinics, though the classes can vary in their approach. Find a therapist trained in MBSR or MBCT — interventions that have the most evidence of benefits.

A number of mindfulness-based interventions are now available online or through smartphone apps as well, although more long-term research is needed to explore how they affect the body and the brain. Still, early studies have found that  online mindfulness-based interventions can have a positive effect on mental health .

It can take a little while for mindfulness meditation to feel natural and to become a part of your regular routine. But with practice, you may discover a powerful tool for relieving stress and improving well-being.

Thanks to psychologists J. David Creswell, PhD, and Bassam Khoury, PhD, who assisted with this article.

The Meeting of Meditative Disciplines and Western Psychology: A Mutually Enriching Dialogue Walsh, et. al., American Psychologist 2006

Mindfulness-Based Therapy: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Khoury, B., et. al. Clinical Psychology Review, 2013

Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Psychiatric Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Goldberg, S.B., et. al. Clinical Psychology Review, 2018

Mindfulness Interventions Creswell, J.D., Annual Review of Psychology, 2017

Mindfulness Training and Physical Health: Mechanisms and Outcomes Creswell, J.D., et. al.,  Psychosomatic Medicine, 2019

Mindfulness and Cognitive–Behavioral Interventions for Chronic Pain: Differential Effects on Daily Pain Reactivity and Stress Reactivity Davis, M.C., et. al., Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2015

Mindfulness Meditation and The Immune System: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials Black, D.S., et. al. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2016

Meditation or Exercise for Preventing Acute Respiratory Infection: A Randomized Controlled Trial Barrett, B., et. al., Annals of Family Medicine, 2012

The Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation Tan, Y.-Y., et. al., Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2015

How Do Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Improve Mental Health and Wellbeing? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Mediation Studies Gu, J., et. al. Clinical Psychology Review, 2015

Effectiveness of Online Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Improving Mental Health: A Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials Spijkerman, M.P.J., et. al., Clinical Psychology Review, 2016

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Unleashing the Mind: The Neuroscience of Meditation and its Impact on Memory

Meditation’s impact on memory is a fascinating confluence of ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience. Evidence suggests that meditation can stimulate changes in the brain, or neuroplasticity, potentially fostering structural growth in the hippocampus, a region vital for memory.

Meditation also contributes to stress reduction, indirectly boosting memory performance by mitigating the harmful effects of stress hormones on the brain. Furthermore, mindfulness practices have been shown to enhance working memory capacity, a crucial cognitive function.

• Long-term meditation practice has been linked to increased cortical thickness in the brain, particularly in regions associated with attention, interoception, and sensory processing, potentially leading to enhanced memory capacity.
• Mindfulness meditation can reduce stress levels and the production of cortisol, a hormone that can impair memory and cause hippocampus shrinkage, thereby indirectly improving memory functionality.
• Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) training has been shown to maintain and even improve working memory capacity, even during periods of high stress.

Source: Neuroscience News In the past couple of decades, the practice of meditation has gained substantial popularity, embraced by millions as a tool to achieve tranquility, self-awareness, and mental clarity.

But beyond these subjective experiences, is there scientific evidence that supports meditation’s potential impact on our brain and, specifically, on memory?

This interplay between ancient practices and modern science is deeply fascinating. Let’s delve into the empirical evidence of how meditation might influence our memory.

An Introduction to Memory and the Brain

To understand how meditation might influence memory, it is first essential to briefly discuss how memory works in the brain. Memory isn’t confined to one specific location in the brain; instead, it involves an intricate network of regions.

For instance, the hippocampus is critical for forming new memories and helping us remember events and facts, while the prefrontal cortex is involved in the retrieval of these memories.

Meditation and the Brain

The practice of meditation has been found to stimulate several changes in the brain, a process known as neuroplasticity . This involves alterations in the brain’s structure and function in response to experience and learning.

Research has shown that long-term meditation practice can lead to increased cortical thickness, particularly in brain regions associated with attention, interoception (perception of internal bodily states), and sensory processing, such as the prefrontal cortex and the right anterior insula. But how does this relate to memory?

Meditation, the Hippocampus, and Memory

Interestingly, studies have demonstrated that meditation can also affect the hippocampus. In one particular study, 16 people participated in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program for 8 weeks. MRI scans taken before and after the program revealed increased grey matter density in the left hippocampus, a key player in memory formation.

This suggests that meditation could potentially enhance memory by fostering structural changes in the hippocampus. Furthermore, since the hippocampus is one of the few brain regions that continue to produce new neurons throughout adulthood—a process called neurogenesis—meditation could possibly stimulate the birth of new neurons, further strengthening our memory capabilities.

Meditation, Stress Reduction, and Memory

Stress is known to have a deleterious effect on memory. Under stress, the body produces cortisol, a hormone that in high levels can impair memory and even lead to the shrinkage of the hippocampus.

Mindfulness meditation, known for its stress reduction capabilities , could indirectly boost memory by reducing cortisol levels. A lower stress environment enables the hippocampus to operate more effectively, thereby enhancing memory and learning.

Meditation and Working Memory

Working memory, the ability to hold and manipulate information over short periods, is another type of memory that seems to be influenced by meditation. Working memory capacity is linked with cognitive abilities such as reading comprehension, problem-solving, and fluid intelligence.

Evidence suggests that mindfulness meditation can improve working memory capacity. One study conducted on human resources personnel showed that those who underwent MBSR training were able to maintain their attention and working memory capacity, even during periods of high stress, compared to a control group that did not receive the training.

While the neuroscience of meditation is a rapidly growing field, there is still much we don’t know. The preliminary evidence does suggest a positive relationship between meditation and memory.

The research points to the potential for structural and functional changes in the brain regions associated with memory and stress regulation, which could account for the perceived improvements in memory often reported by regular meditators.

Despite these promising results, it’s essential to approach this topic with a healthy scientific skepticism, recognizing the need for further research.

Future investigations should aim to standardize the methodologies, consider a wider range of meditative practices, and aim to elucidate the underlying mechanisms more precisely.

As we continue to blend ancient wisdom with modern science, we may unlock new ways to enhance human cognition and overall well-being, with meditation serving as a potent tool in our arsenal.

About this memory and meditation research news

Author: Neuroscience News Communications Source: Neuroscience News Contact: Neuroscience News Communications – Neuroscience News Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

References: “ The underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation: Larger hippocampal and frontal volumes of gray matter ” by Luders, E., et al. NeuroImage “ Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density ” by Hölzel, B. K et al. Psychiatric Research: Neuroimaging “ Examining the protective effects of mindfulness training on working memory capacity and affective experience ” by Jha, A. P. et al. Emotion “ Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition ” by Sonia J. Lupien et al. Nature Reviews Neuroscience “ The neural basis of the complex mental task of meditation: neurotransmitter and neurochemical considerations ” by Andrew Newberg et al. Medical Hypotheses

I really appreciate the information on neuroscience. Thank you.

More I read neuroscience more I believe in yoga and meditation. Few weeks back I read patricia Churchland, this field is so amazing..

At last we are understanding meditation which is one of 8 parts of yoga

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Can Mindfulness Meditation Improve Cognitive Function?

Mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) for psychological health have been well-supported in the literature, and are a staple for treating anxiety, depression, pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. Now a literature review, published in Neuropsychology Review , answers questions posed by scores of diversely designed, randomized controlled studies in recent years about the relationship between MBPs and ways to improve cognitive function.

David Vago, Ph.D. , a research associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University, is a senior author on the paper. “Anecdotal evidence has shown that many MBP practitioners learn to control their attention, improve self-regulation and change maladaptive behavior and their perspective of themselves,” Vago said. “That led us to ask whether some of these changes would be mirrored in objective cognitive tests.”

The new publication, Vago explains, is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to examine objective cognitive outcomes in rigorously controlled clinical trials.

“What we found was a bit surprising – there was little difference in outcomes between standard MPBs and the active control groups that similarly met in a group setting but did not meditate,” Vago said. “However, some changes rose to significance, specifically in executive function and working memory, and more so in older adults.”

Probing the Limits of MBPs

Mindfulness-based interventions use three basic techniques to train the mind to experience life in vivid moment-to-moment attentiveness: sitting meditation, mindful movement and informal mindfulness practices throughout daily life. During meditation, neuroimaging research has demonstrated changes in brain waves and alterations in activity in brain networks associated with enhanced self-awareness and self-regulation, including attention and emotion regulation, decreased mind wandering and improved sensory awareness.

“This supports the hypothesis that these programs do more to close a deficit than extend cognitive capacities past a developmental peak.”

Long-term – and sometimes even short-term – meditation practice can be a powerful tool in moderating mood swings and impulsiveness, coping with pain and quelling anxiety. Mindfulness-based interventions can also lower the risk of drug addiction and long-term disability in people with chronic pain, Vago says.

The question has remained, do MBPs improve the mind’s self-regulatory functions, working memory, long-term memory, or flexibility to move fluidly between tasks? In other words, do these meditation practices translate to improve cognitive function and performance on objective measures?

Improvements in Executive Function

Vago and colleagues looked at 46 studies that reported cognitive outcome data amenable to the final meta-analysis. They exclusively examined the effect MBP participation had on neuropsychological or laboratory-based cognitive tests of attention, perception, declarative memory, language, construction, reasoning and executive function.

The MBP interventions included in the study were limited mostly to mindfulness-based stress reduction and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy programs. The intensity and duration of practices varied as well, with the number of sessions included by MBPs ranging from four to 72, and most programs being delivered over six to 12 sessions. 

“Mindfulness meditation is not a plug-in therapy, it would be hard to conclude from these diverse studies how a committed practice of mindfulness and meditation over years impacts cognitive function over a lifetime.”

Overall findings showed that only executive function demonstrated significant improvements. Changes in working memory, a subcategory of executive function, rose to slightly higher significance. Notably, MBPs only outperformed inactive comparators (no comparison intervention), but not active comparators (participants in other therapies or social support groups).

Clearest Benefits for Older Adults

An important outcome, given the trend toward higher rates and earlier onset of dementia , is that MBP practitioners over 60 often have the most to gain. In several of the studies, older adults demonstrated a substantial benefit, even relative to active comparators. “Since loss of cognitive function is common in older people, this supports the hypothesis that these programs do more to close a deficit than extend cognitive capacities past a developmental peak,” Vago said.

“Additional studies support the idea that mindfulness training can be neuroprotective for age-related cognitive deficits, and neuroimaging data demonstrate that older adults who meditate have less atrophy in brain areas activated by meditation.”

Vago says the team was surprised that non-clinical (healthy) participants benefitted more than clinical participants (those with physical or mental health diagnoses). He explains this may reflect the difficulty clinical participants may have relaxing into practice states.

The Durable Impact of Habitual Practice

Studies that looked at long-term practitioners found greater benefits in attention to cognitive flexibility. “But it is mixed,” Vago said. “And it’s probably because it’s a mixed bag of people practicing meditation, with different motivations and backgrounds.”

“Mindfulness meditation is not a plug-in therapy,” he added. “Jon Kabat-Zinn, the father of this movement in America, would remind us that even the standard practice across eight weeks is intended to be a training, not an end in itself. It would be hard to conclude from these diverse studies how a committed practice of mindfulness and meditation over years impacts cognitive function over a lifetime.”

David Vago, Ph.D.

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About the Expert

David Vago, Ph.D., is a research associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University where he directs the Contemplative Neuroscience and Mind-Body Research Laboratory. He is also the research lead for the wholistic well-being company, RoundGlass. His research focuses on the basic neurobiological mechanisms supporting mind-body practices and the effects on mental health and well-being.

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The Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation for Cognitive Health and Learning

Mindfulness and cognitive function, what is mindfulness meditation, how mindfulness enhances cognitive health, the research-backed benefits of mindfulness meditation.

• In mild cognitive impairment (MCI), mindfulness has been shown to improve cognition, quality of life, and wellbeing. What's more, compared to non-meditators, people with MCI who practice mindfulness show less memory loss and fewer depressive symptoms[ * ][ * ].
• In adults with ADHD, mindfulness meditation improved emotional regulation[ * ].
• In children with ADHD, mindfulness meditation increased performance on all executive function tasks (including self-control, working memory, and task-switching)[ * ].
• Research examining the impact of mindfulness meditation in Parkinson's disease showed improvements in motor skills, potentially due to its stress-relieving impact[ * ].
• Research on long-time meditators shows increased cognitive flexibility and ability to pay attention when compared to non-meditators[ * ].

A Simple Mindfulness Technique To Get You Started

• Sit comfortably on a meditation cushion or a chair, with your spine straight.
• Begin to notice the natural in-flow and out-flow of your breath. Do not manipulate by slowing it down or speeding it up – just pay attention to what is happening with your breath in this present moment.
• It may be helpful to put your attention on a physical cue like the feeling of air streaming out of your nose or the rise and fall of your chest or stomach.
• Remain non-judgmental as you simply notice each breath, staying close to each inhale and each exhale as if they are the only thing that is happening in your awareness.
• If your mind wanders (and it likely will), gently return your attention to your breath – being careful not to place judgment on yourself or your mind for wandering (that's its natural inclination, after all.)
• Continue for five to ten minutes.

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What Happens to Your Brain When You Meditate Every Day?

Improved memory, attention, and learning? Yes, please!

Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, is an award-winning physician-scientist and clinical development specialist.

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What Meditating Every Day Does to Your Brain

Benefits of meditation, how to meditate every day, sample meditations to try.

People who meditate regularly swear by it, but others are often skeptical of it, thinking it’s a little, you know, woo-woo.

But what if we told you that meditation is actually a powerful way to train your brain to be calmer and sharper? That scientific studies have shown that meditating regularly can alter brain shape, size, and function?

“Meditation can actually create structural changes in the brain. It has been shown to increase gray matter in the brain, particularly in areas related to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and perspective,” says Mirela Loftus, MD, PhD , medical director at Newport Healthcare.

Meditation can actually create structural changes in the brain. It has been shown to increase gray matter in the brain, particularly in areas related to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and perspective.

Based on the amount of scientific evidence supporting meditation, every doctor would be prescribing it if it were a pill, says Gary Soffer, MD , an integrative medicine specialist at Yale Medicine.

Let’s dive in and take a look at what meditating regularly does to your brain.

At a Glance

Meditating regularly changes the brain in several ways. It alters brain waves, increases gray matter, and improves connectivity within the brain. The cherry on top? It also boosts feel-good chemicals like dopamine and serotonin.

Together, these changes make us happier, calmer, and sharper. As a result, we're better equipped to handle stress, stay focused on tasks, and experience a greater sense of well-being in our daily lives.

While meditation is an ancient practice, science is still unlocking the full spectrum of its benefits. A surge in research over the past few decades has investigated meditation's effects on both the brain and body. 

Electroencephalography (EEG) and structural/functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques have been used to map the brain and study the effects of meditation on the brain.  

Meditation has been shown to change many aspects of the brain’s structure and function.

Increases Gray Matter

Meditation increases gray matter in the brain, particularly in areas related to learning, memory, emotion regulation, and perspective, says Dr. Loftus. In fact, imaging studies show that meditation increases the size and volume of the brain, due to increased gray matter concentration.

Strengthens the Prefrontal Cortex

Regular meditation is linked to increased thickness of the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with higher-order brain functions such as awareness, concentration, memory , and decision-making, Dr. Loftus explains. 

MRI scans have found that in addition to increasing the gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, meditation also improves the neural connectivity and cognitive function in this area.

Improves Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and rewire itself based on new information and experiences. Meditation increases neuroplasticity by improving neural connectivity patterns across different regions of the brain.

By enhancing connectivity between different brain regions, meditation can improve cognitive functions, information processing, and emotional regulation, says Dr. Loftus.

Boosts Dopamine and Serotonin

Dopamine and serotonin are neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers in the brain. Meditation is linked to a larger quantity of positive neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine in the brain, says Dr. Soffer.

Apart from regulating functions like sleep, growth, and metabolism, these chemicals play an important role in maintaining our emotional equilibrium, by making us feel positive and happy.

Alters Brain Waves

Meditation not only calms our blood pressure, respiratory rate, and heart rate, it also alters our brain waves. This helps us relax, concentrate, and process information better.

Those who practice meditation regularly often exhibit higher levels of gamma brain waves, which are associated with heightened perception, problem-solving, and consciousness, says Dr. Loftus.

Decreases the Size of the Amygdala

The amygdala , which is responsible for the fight-or-flight response , tends to shrink in people who meditate regularly, says Dr. Loftus. Research shows that this significantly reduces our stress levels.

As a result of these changes in the brain, meditation offers us several mental, emotional, and cognitive benefits. In fact, in addition to improving certain mental health conditions, it also benefits our nervous system and immune system, says Dr. Soffer. 

Research shows us that meditation can improve:

• Emotional regulation
• Self-awareness
• Concentration 
• Spatial abilities
• Execution function (thinking, planning, decision-making)
• Conflict resolution
• Mindfulness
• Self-compassion
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Mindful Moment

Need a breather? Take this free  3-minute meditation to calm down quickly —or choose from our  guided meditation library  to find another one that will help you feel your best.

The best way to reap the benefits of meditation is to incorporate it into your daily routine and practice it every day. The benefits can be vast if you stick to the practice, says Dr. Soffer.

Here’s how you can make daily meditation a habit:

• Start small: You can start with just a few minutes every day. Even five minutes of meditation can be helpful. As you get more comfortable with it, you can work your way up to longer sessions.
• Find a time that works for you: Choose a specific time of day that works best for you, whether it’s first thing in the morning, during your lunch break, or before bed. Consistency helps in forming a habit.
• Pick a quiet spot: Choose a place where you can sit comfortably and won’t be interrupted. It could be a swing on your porch, a cozy chair in your room, or even a quiet corner in your office.
• Set the ambience: If you like, you can set the ambience for your meditation session by dimming the lights, playing gentle soothing music, and lighting a scented candle.
• Set an intention: Before you start meditating, set a clear intention or goal for your practice. It could be to reduce stress, increase focus, or simply take a break from your busy day.
• Use a guided meditation program: If you’re new to meditating and not sure how to go about it, it can be easier to start with a guided meditation program that takes you through the steps. There are several free programs available online—you can choose the one that best fits your needs and your schedule.
• Focus on your breath: Use your breath to anchor you to the present. If your mind wanders to other things, gently bring your focus back to your breath.
• Reflect on the practice: After you finish, take a moment to reflect on your session. What did you feel and learn? If you like, you can write down your thoughts in a journal.
• Be patient with yourself: Building a new habit takes time. Be patient with yourself on this journey. Don’t get frustrated if your mind wanders or if you miss a day. Some days will be easier and others will be harder.

If you want to get started with meditation, these are a few types you can try.

Breath Awareness Meditation

Breath awareness meditation simply involves focusing your attention on your breath. Here’s how to do it: 

• Sit comfortably and close your eyes.
• Taking deep breaths, bring your attention to your breath. Pay attention to the way the air comes in through your nose, fills up your stomach, and goes out again.
• If your attention wanders, gently bring it back to your breath.
• Do this for as long as you like. When you’re done, open your eyes slowly.

Body Scan Meditation

Body scan meditation involves bringing your attention to each part of your body and consciously relaxing it, one at a time. Here’s how to do it: 

• Lie down on your back and close your eyes.
• Bring your attention to your toes, breathing into them and relaxing them. Notice any sensations you feel without trying to change anything.
• Slowly move your focus to your feet, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, and so on, up to the top of your head.
• After you finish scanning your entire body, take a few deep breaths and open your eyes.

Loving-Kindness Meditation

Loving-kindness meditation involves sending kind thoughts to yourself, your loved ones, and the world around you. Here’s how to do it: 

• Get comfortable, close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths.
• Send kindness to yourself. You can repeat silently, “May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I be safe.”
• Extend kindness to your loved ones. Think of someone you love and repeat, “May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be safe.”
• Expand kindness to others. Gradually extend these wishes to a neutral person, someone you have difficulty with, and finally to all living beings.

Walking Meditation

If you find sitting still difficult and prefer movement, walking meditation may be for you. Here’s how to do it: 

• Find a quiet space to walk comfortably back and forth.
• Walk slowly, paying attention to the sensations in your feet as they make contact with the ground.
• Coordinate your breath with your steps, inhaling and exhaling with each step.
• Notice any thoughts that come to you, letting them go and returning your focus to walking.
• Turn around and continue walking mindfully when you reach the end of your space.
• When you’re done, stand still, take a few deep breaths, and reflect on the experience.

Key Takeaways

While meditation may seem simple on the surface, its impact on the brain is quite profound. Incorporating it into your daily routine can improve your attention, memory, mood, and stress levels. You can start slowly with just a few minutes a day, working your way up to longer sessions over time. Just do your best to be regular with it! 

Pernet CR, Belov N, Delorme A, Zammit A. Mindfulness related changes in grey matter: a systematic review and meta-analysis . Brain Imaging Behav . 2021 Oct;15(5):2720-2730. doi:10.1007/s11682-021-00453-4

Lardone A, Liparoti M, Sorrentino P, Rucco R, Jacini F, Polverino A, Minino R, Pesoli M, Baselice F, Sorriso A, Ferraioli G, Sorrentino G, Mandolesi L. Mindfulness meditation is related to long-lasting changes in hippocampal functional topology during resting state: a magnetoencephalography study . Neural Plast . 2018 Dec 18;2018:5340717. doi:10.1155/2018/5340717

Rathore M, Verma M, Nirwan M, Trivedi S, Pai V. Functional connectivity of prefrontal cortex in various meditation techniques: a mini-review . Int J Yoga . 2022 Sep-Dec;15(3):187-194. doi:10.4103/ijoy.ijoy_88_22

Washington University. Brain plasticity: what is it?

Guidotti R, Del Gratta C, Perrucci MG, Romani GL, Raffone A. Neuroplasticity within and between functional brain networks in mental training based on long-term meditation . Brain Sci . 2021 Aug 18;11(8):1086. doi:10.3390/brainsci11081086

Nationwide Children's Hospital. Dopamine and serotonin: our own happy chemicals .

Katyal S, Goldin P. Alpha and theta oscillations are inversely related to progressive levels of meditation depth . Neurosci Conscious . 2021 Nov 29;2021(1):niab042. doi:10.1093/nc/niab042

Gotink RA, Vernooij MW, Ikram MA, Niessen WJ, Krestin GP, Hofman A, Tiemeier H, Hunink MGM. Meditation and yoga practice are associated with smaller right amygdala volume: the Rotterdam study . Brain Imaging Behav . 2018 Dec;12(6):1631-1639. doi:10.1007/s11682-018-9826-z

Tang R, Friston KJ, Tang YY. Brief mindfulness meditation induces gray matter changes in a brain hub . Neural Plast . 2020 Nov 16;2020:8830005. doi:10.1155/2020/8830005

Toussaint L, Nguyen QA, Roettger C, Dixon K, Offenbächer M, Kohls N, Hirsch J, Sirois F. Effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, and guided imagery in promoting psychological and physiological states of relaxation . Evid Based Complement Alternat Med . 2021 Jul 2;2021:5924040. doi:10.1155/2021/5924040

Rusch HL, Rosario M, Levison LM, Olivera A, Livingston WS, Wu T, Gill JM. The effect of mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials . Ann N Y Acad Sci . 2019 Jun;1445(1):5-16. doi:10.1111/nyas.13996

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Center for Mindfulness

Frequently Asked Questions About Mindfulness Meditation

This page contains a variety of information and written material related to mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction that may be of interest to you or anyone curious about the topic.

Meditation refers to the activity of intentionally paying attention, to a particular object for a particular purpose. Spiritual practitioners and members of many faith traditions have developed meditation practices over countless years of human experience. There are literally thousands of ways to practice meditation. As it has been developed in diverse faith traditions, the purpose of all meditation practice is to awaken us. Meditation is intended to bring about transformation and change, through understanding, compassion, and clarity of seeing.

According to many authorities, meditation practices may generally be grouped into two basic categories based on the emphasis placed on directing attention as one practices meditation. First, there are "concentration" practices. In these, the practitioner focuses attention (concentrates) on a narrow field, usually a single object. For example, in the service of spiritual practice, the person may repeat a meaningful phrase or prayer over and over or they may fix their attention on an object or sacred figure. In these concentration practices, when the attention wanders or is drawn away from the object of attention, the practitioner gently returns attention to the object. The object is selected for reasons specific to the person and to their particular faith tradition. Done for health purposes, concentration practices may select a more neutral object such as the sensation of the breath or the sensation of the body as it moves.

The second general category of meditation practice includes all forms of meditation practice, which emphasize awareness or "mindfulness." Such activities seek to develop and nourish present moment awareness. They encourage paying attention in a way so as to be more aware in the present moment of all that is here, and of the constantly changing nature of what is here. These "mindfulness" practices are often described as "being, not doing," because mindfulness itself is the innate quality of human beings which is bare awareness. Mindfulness can be defined as careful, open-hearted, choiceless, present moment awareness.

Mindfulness benefits from the ability to concentrate attention, but is not the same as concentration. It is a quality, which human beings already have, but they have usually not been advised that they have it, that it is valuable, or that it can be cultivated. Mindfulness is the awareness that is not thinking (but that which is aware of thinking, as well as aware of each of the other ways we experience the sensory world, i.e., seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling through the body). Mindfulness is non-judgmental and open-hearted (friendly and inviting of whatever arises in awareness). It is cultivated by paying attention on purpose, deeply, and without judgment to whatever arises in the present moment, either inside or outside of us. By intentionally practicing mindfulness, deliberately paying more careful moment-to-moment attention, individuals can live more fully and less on "automatic pilot," thus, being more present for their own lives. Mindfulness meditation practices seek to develop this quality of clear, present moment awareness in a systematic way so that the practitioner may enjoy these benefits. Being more aware in each moment of life has benefits both to a person doing specific spiritual practice, and also to the same person in everyday life.

The use of meditation in health care settings, and for stress reduction is related to discoveries about the mind-body connection in health and illness, which have been made in Western medicine over the last 25 to 30 years. In that time, researchers have discovered that the mind and the body are intimately connected. It is now known that thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and stress all have a great impact on health and illness. Meditation is one of a variety of so-called "self-regulatory practices" which individuals can learn to do for themselves to promote their own health and well-being. Research has shown that individuals who learn and practice these skills are likely to have a better health outcome than those who do not. In particular, research has shown that the ability to concentrate attention can promote deep relaxation in the body, and that the ability to be more mindful in each situation can help break the destructive habitual reactions to stress.

In the approach known as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), individuals are taught to practice mindfulness meditation and mindful movement/gentle stretching and yoga as ways to become more aware, more present, and more relaxed as they face the stress of their own lives. Other examples of self-regulatory practices besides meditation are biofeedback, clinical hypnosis, and progressive relaxation exercises.

Why is daily meditation practice important?

Research has shown that meditation is similar to other lifestyle change activities in that it is only effective if you do it! Exercise, diet change, or meditation -- any lifestyle change requires consistent practice to gain results. In early studies of meditation, the cardiologist Herbert Benson, at Harvard, demonstrated that practicing meditation 20 minutes twice-a-day was sufficient to bring about significant reductions in blood pressure in many people. The exact number of minutes of daily practice to bring benefits for large populations is not well understood, and, in truth, it probably varies based on a number of considerations. Generally, however, we can say that regular, daily meditation practice of at least 30 minutes or more is very likely to bring benefits to the person who does it.

As mentioned previously, human beings of all faith traditions have practiced meditation as part of their spiritual life. The ability to develop calm and focused attention, and the cultivation of deeper and broader present moment awareness (mindfulness), are both vital supports to any genuine spiritual practice, and thus, both of these benefits of meditation have been developed and enjoyed by countless spiritual seekers.

The use of meditation practices here in the West, largely for health benefits and promoted and investigated by the emerging field of mind-body medicine, for practical purposes, is only about 25 to 30 years old at present. Because of this absence of a previously developed and mature methodology of meditation for health promotion in Western medicine, many of the meditation methods now taught in the West for health purposes owe some (or considerable) debt to the instructions and experience detailed by meditation teachers of more ancient traditions.

There already exists an enormous body of experience with meditation and yogic practice in different traditions worldwide. The challenge for those working in the emerging field of mind-body medicine in the West in the past 25-30 years has been to identify what is useful and relevant about meditation and yogic practices in those more ancient and diverse contexts, and to translate it into something practical for those in the contemporary Western health care culture who wish to utilize that information, be they consumer or provider. Those who have pioneered meditation for health purposes in Western medicine in the past three decades, (Herbert Benson, MD, Joan Borysenko, PhD, Dean Ornish, MD, and Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, to name a few) have made deliberate efforts to make the meditation practices they teach non-sectarian and available to people of any and all faith traditions. This is true, for example, for Benson's method of eliciting the "relaxation response" in which instructions may have either a spiritual or secular focus depending on the individual's own preference. Likewise, the practices of mindfulness meditation and yoga/movement taught in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction model (and this program) developed and taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn and his colleagues are explicitly crafted to appeal to individuals regardless of their faith tradition orientation. There is no specific religious or faith tradition emphasis, and the practices taught are offered for anyone who wishes to use them to enhance their own health.

As we practice mindfulness or present moment awareness, we can expect to experience certain difficulties. For example, with growing awareness in each moment, in each situation of our lives, we begin to be aware of the unpleasant and painful as well as the pleasant. We may become more aware of even "neutral" experiences as well, seeing in even these some unpleasant or pleasant aspect previously unnoticed. This growing awareness of the unpleasant can be upsetting to the beginning meditator. He or she can mistakenly believe they are not "doing it right" or are "not cut out to meditate!" At this stage it is vital that the meditator realizes the growing awareness of all aspects of life is actually progress. But if they are in a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program they might ask, "How does growing awareness of pain and the unpleasant help reduce my stress?" The answer is that to have a chance to reduce our stress and to heal ourselves from the toll stress takes in our lives, we must find a way to see clearly all that is here and to remain aware and present in order to give ourselves the best chance to make the most skillful response to whatever situation life offers us.

So if, through the practice of present moment awareness, we grow in awareness and begin to experience the unpleasant (as well as the pleasant) more deeply, more intensely, this is actually waking up to the reality of our lives. Yet it can be difficult to remain present, to "keep our seat," to continue meditating and continue our practice of present moment awareness. To support us in remaining present in these difficult moments, it is useful to call upon some other qualities we have within us. These qualities are kindness, compassion, and equanimity. It is important to realize that we are not imagining these or making them up. Rather, they are already within, important elements of our deepest nature as human beings. Unfortunately, many people do not realize the depth and power of these qualities within themselves, nor do they know how (or that it is even possible) to bring them forward and to cultivate these qualities in their own lives.

As we gain some increasing awareness of our own pain, it is important to notice our reaction. Too often people meet pain in themselves with criticism, meanness, or a sense of failure. They fall into patterns of stressful and destructive self-blame which just adds to the misery they already feel. Practicing mindfulness, we can be aware of our own pain whatever its nature (physical, emotional, etc.) And we can recognize our patterns and habits of judging and blaming ourselves for our own pain. Recognizing these patterns, we can respond with kindness and compassion instead of reacting with blame and meanness. Our challenge thus becomes, Can we meet and hold our own pain with the same compassion and kindness as we would meet and hold the pain of a loved one? This holding of ourselves in kindness and compassion is not easy! Most of our lives we have taken a very different attitude towards ourselves and our own pain. For that reason, we have to practice kindness and compassion openly and often towards ourselves. Our growing mindfulness can be a great ally in changing our habits of meanness towards ourselves to habits of kindness and compassion. As we learn to be aware of our own pain and our habitual critical and judgmental reactions about the pain, we have a choice in each moment of taking a different path, the path of compassion and kindness.

Even though we can understand the importance of not beating up on ourselves and of practicing habits of kindness and compassion, it can still be quite difficult at times to remain present in the face of pain and unpleasant experience. This is true whether the pain and unpleasant experience arises in our meditation practice or in our everyday life. To cultivate the ability to remain present in these intense situations, it can be especially helpful to remember that we carry in our deepest nature as human beings the quality of equanimity. Equanimity is often defined as even-mindedness or composure in the face of stress. It is associated with the quality of balance. It suggests a habit of mind (and heart) that is rarely disturbed, even under great strain. The meditation teacher, Jack Kornfield, says that equanimity develops in us as we learn to keep our heart open through the changing circumstances of our life. So a kind of courage and a willingness to stay present is also required. This is not just willpower, not gritting one's teeth and enduring. Rather, it is the act of bringing careful and open-hearted attention to what is here. It is not turning away. It is softening into what is present in our awareness in this moment, accepting things as they are in this moment even if that means we must open to a painful or unpleasant experience and see it exactly as it is. Then as we actually sit with increasingly difficult experiences, we discover that what is already in us is an ability to be composed. We can be unshakable. As we sit with these experiences more and more, we can feel the depth of our own equanimity more and more. The realization and manifestation in our own life of this innate quality of equanimity is based on our growing awareness of the impermanence of things and on our ability to accept things as they are in this moment. This equanimity is not to be confused with indifference. Quite the opposite. Equanimity enables us to remain deeply present and open to what is here.

Cultivating equanimity can be a meditation practice in itself. It is commonly recommended one "borrow" the elemental qualities in nature that embody equanimity. For example, one can picture oneself as a mountain, unshakable amidst all the changes and storms which happen on and around it. Or one can identify with a deep and still lake, which rests serene and undisturbed despite the swirl and splash of activity on its surface. Or one can use helpful reminder phrases such as, "May I be undisturbed by the changing circumstances of my life," "May I be aware and at peace with the changes that happen in every life and to everyone," or "May I offer my efforts and help, knowing it may be of great, some, or even no benefit." Another beautiful example of a support to cultivate equanimity in our lives is the famous Serenity Prayer, which asks for the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Thus, using kindness, compassion, and equanimity, deep and authentic qualities within each human being, we can support ourselves to remain present, to be mindful, and then to act in the most healthy and skillful way in even the most stressful situations of our lives.

Background Have you ever started eating an ice cream cone, taken a lick or two, then noticed all you had was a sticky napkin in your hand? Or been going somewhere and arrived at your destination only to realize you haven't noticed anything or anyone you met along the way? Of course you have, we all have! These are common examples of "mindlessness," or as some people put it, "going on automatic pilot."

We all fall into habits of mind and body, of attention and inattention, which result in our not being present for our own lives. The consequences of this inattention can be quite costly. They can result in our missing some really good things, and also in our ignoring really important information and messages about our life, our relationships, and even our own health.

Our reactions to the stressful events of our lives can become so habituated that they occur essentially out of our awareness, until, because of physical or emotional or psychological dysfunction, we cannot ignore them any longer. These reactions can include tensing the body, experiencing painful emotional states, even panic and depression, and being prisoners of habits of thinking and self-talk including obsessional list making, and intense, even toxic self-criticism.

An important antidote to this tendency to "tune-out," to go on "automatic pilot," is to practice mindfulness. To practice mindfulness means to pay more careful attention in a particular way. We all have the quality of mindfulness in us. It is the quality of bare awareness that knows what is here in the present moment. Mindfulness knows what is going on outside, and also, inside our own skin. However we experience life, through whichever sense gate life comes to us - eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, even the mind itself - mindfulness is capable of knowing that seeing, or hearing, or smelling, or tasting, or feeling, or even thinking - is happening in this, the present moment.

So, we can practice mindfulness and become more present. All we have to do is to establish attention in the present moment, and to allow ourselves to be with what is here. To rest in the awareness of what is here. To pay attention without trying to change anything. To allow ourselves to become more deeply and completely aware of what it is we are sensing! And to be with what it is we are experiencing. To rest in this quality of being, of being aware, in each moment as our life unfolds.

And, to the extent we can practice "being" and become more present and more aware of our life and in our life, the "doing" we do about all of it, will be more informed, more responsive, and less driven by the habits of reaction and inattention.

Practicing Mindfulness Make the effort! Whenever you think of it in your day or night, remember that you can be more mindful. See for yourself what it might be like to pay more careful attention and to allow yourself to experience directly what is here, especially including what is here in your own body, heart, and mind. When starting a new activity (beginning a meeting with 2 minutes of silence and attention on the breath, or taking a few mindful breaths before entering a patient's room, or a focus on the breath before starting your exercise routine, are some possibilities). In the middle of an on-going situation or process (bringing attention to the breath, or to the sensations arising while washing dishes, eating a meal, walking the dog, doing a job, etc.) Or when you are just waiting, in between the things on the schedule (gently bringing attention to the breath or the sounds or the sensations or the sights or even the thoughts while at a red light, in a line at the bus stop or grocery, or waiting for someone else to arrive).

In these situations, use the sensation of the breath as the "anchor" for awareness in the present moment. Establish mindfulness on the narrow focus of just the breath sensation. Allow yourself to feel the breath as it goes in, and goes out and the pause between in and out. Do not try to control the breath. Simply let it come and go. Bring as much attention, as completely and continuously as you can to the direct sensation of the breath.

After awhile, if you wish, when you have established awareness on the breath sensation, you could widen the focus to include all body sensations along with the breath sensation. Again, not trying to change anything at all! But, simply allowing yourself to feel, to be aware of the changing sensations in the body.

After awhile, again if you wish, you can further widen the focus to include all that is present. This means whatever you are hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, touching, or even thinking. Just practice being with these different experiences as they unfold. Allowing yourself to feel your life in this moment. Resting in mindfulness, the open-hearted choiceless awareness of what is here in this moment.

Anytime you feel lost or confused or frustrated, gently narrow the focus and return awareness to the sensation of the breath. You may have to do this frequently. It is ok. Or you may wish to concentrate mainly on the breath, especially if you are new to meditation. That, too, is ok. The important thing is the quality of awareness you bring to the moment. One moment of mindfulness, one breath when we are truly present, can be quite profound. See for yourself!

You can practice mindfulness in this way throughout the day and night! Practice for a few breaths at a time, even for a few mindful moments. And, if you wish, you can make this a more "formal" meditation practice, by setting aside some time (from a few minutes to an hour or more, as you wish) free from other activity or distraction to devote full attention to simply being present, being mindful of what is present. Over time you may find that the "formal" practice supports and strengthens your ability to practice "informally" throughout the day and night in different situations.

Hints Expect your mind to wander! Especially if you practice for even a few breaths or for a few minutes. Practice kindness and patience with yourself when this happens and gently return awareness to the breath sensation.

Notice any tendency to "be hard on yourself," or to feel frustrated or a failure. See this kind of judgment as just another kind of thinking, and gently return awareness to the breath.

Expect to feel some relaxation, especially if you practice for even a few breaths or for a few moments. This relaxed feeling is an ally. It helps us to be more present, more mindful. Relaxation alone is not what mindfulness is about, however! It is about being present with awareness.

Expect to become more mindful with practice! Expect to notice more things, including more painful things. This is actually progress! You are not doing anything wrong! Quite the opposite, you are increasing mindfulness for all things. When you begin to notice the painful things, see if you can hold yourself with compassion and kindness, and continue to bring open-hearted awareness to the experience that is unfolding. By practicing staying present, not turning away from the painful in our lives, we can learn to remain open to all the possibilities in each situation. This increases our chances for healing and transformation in meeting the pain we face. And it also gives us a way to be with those situations when there is nothing more we can do to "get away from the pain" but must find a way to be with it. We can discover that the quality of mindfulness is not destroyed or damaged by contact with pain, that it can know pain as completely and fully as it knows any other experience.

Finally, be careful not to try too hard when practicing mindfulness. Don't try to make anything happen, or to achieve any special states or any special effects! Simply relax and pay as much attention as you can to just what is here now. Whatever form that takes. Allow yourself to experience life directly as it unfolds, paying careful and open-hearted attention.

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The Relationship Between Trait Mindfulness and Critical Thinking: the Mediating Effect of Metacognitive Awareness

• Target Article (with peer commentary)
• Published: 30 November 2021
• Volume 67 , pages 139–149, ( 2022 )

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• Omid soliemanifar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2031-4862 1 ,
• Anousha Nikoubakht   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5504-6709 2 &
• Farzaneh Shaabani 3  

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This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of metacognition in the relationship between trait mindfulness and critical thinking. 300 undergraduate students were selected by a multistage random sampling method. The California Critical Thinking Skills Test; Form B (CCTST-B), Metacognitive Awareness Inventory (MAI), and Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaires (FFMQ) were used. Structural equation modeling was used for analyzing the data. The result indicated that trait mindfulness was positively correlated with metacognitive awareness (MA) and critical thinking. Furthermore, MA was related to critical thinking. The fit indicators of the proposed model were obtained at an acceptable and desired level. The results suggested that MA may be as a mediator of the relationship between trait mindfulness and critical thinking.

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Improvements in critical thinking performance following mindfulness meditation depend on thinking dispositions, a randomised active-controlled trial to examine the effects of an online mindfulness intervention on executive control, critical thinking and key thinking dispositions in a university student sample.

The Effect of Mindfulness on Cognitive Reflection and Reasoning

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We would like to acknowledge the Department of Human Sciences of Abdanan Payame Noor University for their assistance. In addition, we thank and appreciate all students participating in the data collection of this research.

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Omid soliemanifar

The Diagnosis and Treatment Center of Learning Disorders, Department of Education (District 2) in the City of Ahvaz, General Department of Education in Khuzestan Province, Ministry of Education of Iran, Ahvaz, Iran

Anousha Nikoubakht

Department of Education in the City of Gotvand, General Department of Education in Khuzestan Province, Ministry of Education of Iran, Gotvand, Iran

Farzaneh Shaabani

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All authors contributed to the study design. O.Soliemanifar was Leader of the research. F. Shaabani conducts the statistical analysis. The Manuscript prepared by O.Soliemanifar. A. Nikoubakht read and editing the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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soliemanifar, O., Nikoubakht, A. & Shaabani, F. The Relationship Between Trait Mindfulness and Critical Thinking: the Mediating Effect of Metacognitive Awareness. Psychol Stud 67 , 139–149 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12646-021-00633-8

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How Meditation Increases Your IQ & Makes You Smarter

6 ways meditation increases your intelligence & raises your iq.

Meditation increases intelligence in many ways: From making both brain hemispheres work together, to boosting memory, to increasing brain size, to enhancing emotional intelligence (EQ).

Here are 6 reasons meditation creates the perfect environment for intellectual growth and learning.

#1 —  Meditation Balances Your Left & Right Brain

Meditation has been proven to sync both brain hemispheres , allowing much faster neural communication and much greater processing power .

When the logical left brain and creative right brain begin working in harmony, problem solving becomes easy, creativity multiplies, deep thinking becomes the standard, and focus and concentration magnify.

"Whole brain synchronization" is consistently shown in highly successful people , and you too can achieve this mind state — through meditation.

#2 —  Meditation Increases Brain Size.

By taking advantage of what scientists call "neuroplasticity" , researchers from the University of Wisconsin discovered that meditation beneficially increases the neural "gray matter thickness" of certain brain regions.

To put it another way, meditation makes your brain bigger, smarter, and faster, in the same way that physical exercise makes your muscles stronger, denser, with more endurance.

Contrary to the widely accepted scientific opinion of decades ago, the concept of neuroplasticity means that our intelligence is not genetically set from birth — there are certain things we can do to improve our brain performance .

As evidenced by numerous studies, neuroscientists have pegged meditation as the leading brain enhancer, with the potential to increase intelligence on all levels.

#3 —  Meditation Enables Super Beneficial Brainwave Patterns.

By guiding your brainwaves into the most beneficial frequencies - alpha, theta, and delta , a myriad of benefits manifest, including super creativity , powerful idea generation, enhanced cognitive functioning, and an overall intellectual capacity for growth .

Meditation is the very best, easiest way for you to access these super beneficial mind states , while transforming your life in so many different ways (the least of which is a simple boost in IQ!).

#4 —  Meditation Boosts Insight & Intuition.

Inner intelligence, on the other hand, is derived from developing & listening to your inner voice. Best known as insight and intuition , meditation is the key to tapping into both of these latent abilities.

While this specific type of intelligence can’t be gauged by quizzes or tests, it's highly valuable on all levels, stimulating insight, creativity, natural understanding without being taught, and helping you to see beyond what the five senses experience.

Inner intelligence , some would argue, is the most important type for success in the " real world ", once academic studies are complete.

Many successful business people , including the late Steve Jobs, stated that their keen business acumen & revolutionary ideas came from their gut feelings (intuition) above all else.

#5 —  Meditation Improves Both Long & Short Term Memory.

We all know that memory is a major component of both intelligence and IQ.

From studying for exams, to learning a new coding language, to remembering names, memory is essential to daily intellectual function.

Two key memory associated areas of the brain, the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex , both show significantly increased activity during meditation.

By stimulating these vital areas in meditation, both long and short term memory capacity increase, making your job, schoolwork, and daily life that much easier.

#6 —  Meditation Advances Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

Many people never learn to think through their emotions and address them in a reasonable manner, but instead are held prisoner by their reactions to outside stimuli.

Though you can’t control outside forces and circumstances, you certainly can control how you respond to them.

Regular meditation will give you what is called "emotional intelligence" (or EQ), which is the ability to tune into and listen to your feelings, then work through them in a calm, thoughtful manner.

In addition, EQ also helps you read and appropriately respond to other people's emotional cues . This is another intelligence that's somewhat difficult to measure, but incredibly important in the real world .

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