Meditation, Cognitive Flexibility and Well-Being

J Cogn Enhanc DOI 10.1007/s41465-017-0026-3 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Meditation, Cognitive Flexibility and Well-Being Mirjam Hartkamp 1,2 & Ian M. Thornton 2 Received: 23 January 2017 / Accepted: 26 April 2017 # Springer International Publishing 2017 Abstract A number of previous studies have suggested that mindfulness meditation can enhance cognitive performance. Although both western empirical findings and Buddhist psychological theory have emphasised a role for cognitive flexibility in the development and maintenance of mental health, few studies have specifically focused on flexibility in relation to mindfulness. The present study used a range of objective, behavioural measures to assess cognitive flexibility in 41 individuals before and after a 6-day intensive Vipassana (mindfulness) retreat. Subjective assessments of mindfulness, positive functioning and well-being were also taken. A comparably sized control group of students and government employees was given the same pre- and post-test measures. In contrast to our expectations and to previous reports, there were no significant changes in cognitive performance, over and above practice-related improvements also shown by the control group. Retreat participants did, however, register positive improvements on the subjective measures. We discuss possible limitations with our experimental design and highlight important issues that may assist future studies aiming to assess effects of mindfulness in the cognitive domain. Keywords Mindfulness . Meditation . Vipassana . Cognitive flexibility . Cognitive functioning . Stroop . Attention . Well-being * Mirjam Hartkamp 1 Department of Psychology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy 2 Department of Cognitive Science, University of Malta, Msida, Malta Introduction In recent years, scientific interest in mindfulness meditation has grown exponentially. Mindfulness meditation derives from a Buddhist meditation practice and was developed as a stress coping strategy in the 1980s (Kabat-Zinn 1982, 1990). Numerable clinical programmes are currently based in mindfulness meditation practice (see e.g. mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT); Segal et al. 2002; Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT); Linehan 1993, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT); Hayes et al. 1999), also called mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs). In traditional Buddhist contexts, mindfulness meditation is intended to increase awareness, tranquillity, insight, compassion and equanimity so that mental suffering is reduced and overcome (see e.g. Buddhagosa 1975; Debordes et al. 2015; Goldstein 2002; Wallace and Shapiro 2006). Accumulating evidence suggests positive effects of mindfulness meditation on attentional processes and emotion regulation (see e.g. Chambers et al. 2008; Chambers et al. 2009; Jha et al. 2007; Kabat-Zinn 2003; Lutz et al. 2014; Valentine and Sweet 1999), cognitive flexibility (Moore and Malinowski 2009; Moore et al. 2012), memory performance (Jha et al. 2010; Mrazek et al. 2013; Tang et al. 2007; Zeidan et al. 2010) and general well-being (e.g. Wallace and Shapiro 2006; Carmody and Baer 2008; Grossman et al. 2008; Chiesa and Serretti 2009; Williams et al. 2014). The increase in scientific interest in mindfulness practice is mostly fuelled by its promising clinical potentials, thus focusing on its effects relative to other ‘treatments’, or tapping into (neuro) cognitive behavioural correlates of dispositional mindfulness relative to behavioural functioning. As to the underlying processes of mindfulness meditation, theories on meditation are becoming more specific, but further research needs to specify the exact cognitive and neurobiological processes by which its putative beneficial effects are mediated J Cogn Enhanc (Brown et al. 2007; Moore and Malinowski 2009). Identifying the mediating processes of mindfulness practice has been slowed down by the absence of an unequivocal definition and operationalisation (see e.g. Chiesa 2013; Lutz et al. 2015). This lack of definition has also given rise to a diversity in protocol and practice that makes up the body of literature. This state of affairs almost certainly reflects the novelty of this field of research, but it also mirrors the complex interplay of the various cognitive, emotional and behavioural processes that cross several disciplines of Western science. Scholars and scientists in the field have called for an integration of Buddhist psychology in Western scientific frameworks, to better understand the processes involved in mindfulness meditation (e.g. Grossman 2011; Kabat-zinn 2003). The coherence and consistency of the body of literature that is lending support to the claim that mindfulness has beneficial effects on cognition, brain and behaviour have been questioned because of methodological limitations related to the foregoing (see e.g. Sedlmeier et al. 2012; Chiesa 2013; Grossman 2008; Goyal et al. 2014 for critical reviews). Meanwhile, mindfulness meditation is increasingly used as a basis for clinical programs. It thus seems relevant to further identify and understand cognitive and neurobiological processes that underpin mindfulness meditation, while applying a broad inclusive theoretical framework. Mindfulness and Attentional Processing Mindfulness meditation can be described by two components: (1) self-regulation of attention, directed towards the present moment experience of bodily and mental sensations; and (2) engaging an inner stance of curiosity, openness and acceptance towards that experience (Bishop et al. 2004). Thus, mindfulness meditation entails sustained attention—being able to maintain awareness over longer time frames (Posner and Rothart 1992) of ‘the present moment’, inhibition—being able to lessen the interference of secondary processing of thought, feelings, and sensations that co-arise in response to the stimulus or spontaneously in the present moment, and flexibility—being able to shift attention from one engagement to another (Posner and Peterson 1990) and from a mind-wandering, distracted state, back to the present moment (Bishop et al. 2004). Mindfulness meditation training thus implies strategic use of attentional resources and subsequently enhanced cognitive processing in areas that are mediated by attentional constraints. Accordingly, mindfulness meditation training is increasingly reported to be associated with improved attentionrelated cognitive processes (Chiesa et al. 2011), including memory (Jha et al. 2007; Brown et al. 2016; Raffone and Pantani 2010), sustained attention (Lutz et al. 2009; MacLean et al. 2010, Jha et al. 2007; Valentine and Sweet 1999) and conflict monitoring (Jha et al. 2007; Tang et al. 2007). Interestingly, such positive changes in attention- related cognitive processes were even observed after relatively short, but intensive retreats of 4 (Zeidan et al. 2010) or 8 days (Chambers et al. 2008). Optimised strategic use of attentional recourses in relation to mindf (...truncated)