Mobile mindfulness meditation apps may improve attention

Studies suggest mindfulness meditation can improve cognition, but few researchers have examined whether virtual mindfulness meditation apps are effective. In a new eNeuro paper, Andy Kim et al., from the University of Southern California, assessed attention control in adults following about a month of mindfulness meditation guided by a mobile app. 

In participants of all ages, mindfulness improved attention control as measured by reliable eye movement tasks established to assess how quickly people orient their attention. A control group that listened to an audio book did not have this cognitive improvement. Notably, self-reported measures of cognitive ability, including attention and distractibility, suggest that participants were not aware of the cognitive improvement from meditation. 

According to the authors, they are among the first to measure cognitive improvements from mindfulness using a reliable eye task in addition to self-reporting surveys. Future work may probe whether longer-term mindfulness interventions strengthen the effects observed in this study. 

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About eNeuro 

eNeuro is an online, open-access journal published by the Society for Neuroscience. Established in 2014, eNeuro publishes a wide variety of content, including research articles, short reports, reviews, commentaries and opinions. 

About The Society for Neuroscience 

The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries.