![]() Focusing on attention studies, it has been demonstrated that long-term meditation supports enhanced activation of specific brain areas while also promoting attention sustainability ( Davidson et al., 2003). Neuroimaging studies showed that meditation practice activates or deactivates brain areas comprising the prefrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate cortex ( Hölzel et al., 2007), the basal ganglia ( Ritskes et al., 2003), the hippocampus, the pre- and postcentral gyri, as well as the dorsolateral prefrontal and parietal cortices ( Lazar et al., 2000). Electroencephalographic (EEG) studies revealed a significant increase in alpha and theta activity of subjects who underwent a meditation session ( Kasamatsu and Hirai, 1966 Murata et al., 1994). The neurophysiological mechanisms underlying meditation practice and its relation to cognition also have been addressed. A recent meta-analysis of the effects of meditation training reported medium to large effect sizes for changes in emotionality and relationship issues, medium effect sizes for measures of attention, and smaller effects on memory and several other cognitive capacities ( Sedlmeier et al., 2012). ![]() In addition, meditation training was proposed to enhance working memory capacity and some executive functions ( Chiesa et al., 2011). A recent systematic review associated early phases mindfulness meditation training with significant improvements in selective and executive attention, whereas later phases were associated with improved sustained attention abilities. Even a brief training of just four meditation sessions was sufficient to significantly improve visuospatial processing, working memory, and executive functioning ( Zeidan et al., 2010). In longitudinal studies, 3 months of meditation training could be shown to enhance attentional capacity ( Lutz et al., 2009), perception, and vigilance ( MacLean et al., 2010). For example, in comparisons of experienced meditators with meditation-naive control subjects, meditation practice has been associated with increased attentional performance and cognitive flexibility ( Moore and Malinowski, 2009 Hodgins and Adair, 2010). During recent years, the effects of meditation practice also were systematically studied in western laboratories, and a rapidly growing body of evidence demonstrates that meditation training enhances attention and other cognitive capacities. Two rather traditional approaches are the focus of current research: focused attention meditation and open monitoring meditation, which involve voluntary focusing of attention on a chosen object or nonreactive monitoring of the content of experience from moment to moment ( Lutz et al., 2008). Such approaches include ancient Buddhist mindfulness meditations such as Vipassana and Zen meditations, as well as several modern group-based standardized meditations ( Chiesa and Malinowski, 2011). ![]() Meditation has been conceptualized as a family of complex emotional and attentional regulatory training regimes ( Lutz et al., 2008 ). Martin Dresler, Dimitris Repantis, in Cognitive Enhancement, 2015 Meditation
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