Set shifting reaction-time improves following meditation or simple breathcounting in meditators and meditation-naïve participants: Data from naturalistic, ecological momentary-assessment devices

Abstract

A comparison is made between the performance of meditators and controls in a letter-number task-switching test. Data were recorded over a five-day period using a previously developed ecological momentary assessment paradigm. Participants consisted of naïve, novice, and experienced meditators, who completed a task-switching reaction time (RT) task before and after 20-min breath-counting sessions. There was a decrease in reaction time over testing days, p < .007, as well as a separate decrease in reaction time pre- to post-meditation, p < .001. RTs decreased each day, as expected, and post-meditation/breath-counting RTs were consistently faster than pre-meditation/breath-counting RTs. These results suggest a meditation effect separate from a learning effect.