Does a 15-minute brief mindfulness breathing exercise temporarily enhance inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility? A within-subject experimental approach

Author

Andree HARTANTO, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
K. T. A. Sandeeshwara KASTURIRATNA, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
Yi Jing CHUA, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
Judy Abigail NGO, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
Shi Ying Jolene ONG, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
Frosch Yi Xuan QUEK, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
Xun Ci SOH, Singapore Management UniversityFollow
Nadyanna M. MAJEED

Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

11-2023

Abstract

Intensive mindfulness practices have been shown to improve cognitive abilities such as executive functions. However, most of these mindfulness-based practices require the participants to be involved either an extended immersive experience or repeated daily practice that may span over multiple weeks or months. Extending from the promising effect of intensive mindfulness training, recent studies have also suggested that a single session of brief mindfulness training is sufficient to temporarily enhance cognitive functions. However, the positive effect of brief mindfulness was not always consistent. In view of the inconsistent findings, the current study aims to critically examine the effectiveness of a single-session 15-minute brief mindfulness exercise on both inhibitory control and task-switching using a within-subject experimental design (N = 117). Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not find any evidence that engaging in a brief mindfulness exercise enhanced performance in the flanker task or color-shape task-switching paradigm. These results suggest that a mindfulness intervention of short duration may not be sufficient to immediately enhance higher-order cognitive processes such as inhibitory control and task-switching.

Keywords

brief mindfulness, executive functions, inhibitory control, task-switching, within-subject design

Discipline

Cognition and Perception | Social Psychology

Research Areas

Psychology

Publication

Collabra: Psychology

Volume

9

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

15

ISSN

2474-7394

Identifier

10.1525/collabra.90219

Publisher

University of California Press

Citation

HARTANTO, Andree, KASTURIRATNA, K. T. A. Sandeeshwara, CHUA, Yi Jing, NGO, Judy Abigail, ONG, Shi Ying Jolene, QUEK, Frosch Yi Xuan, SOH, Xun Ci, & MAJEED, Nadyanna M..(2023). Does a 15-minute brief mindfulness breathing exercise temporarily enhance inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility? A within-subject experimental approach. Collabra: Psychology, 9(1), 1-15.

Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3881

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.90219