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The Acute Effects of Focused Attention and Open Monitoring Meditations on Prospective Memory in Older Adults

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Abstract

Objectives

This study explored the acute effects of meditation on prospective memory (PM) in older adults. Study 1 evaluated whether focused attention (FA) meditation improves PM, while Study 2 investigated whether open monitoring (OM) meditation can facilitate PM under the influence of a negative mood.

Method

In Study 1, 127 healthy older adults (Mage = 64.87) were randomized into a FA group or a mind wandering (MW) group. Three types of PM were assessed: focal event-based PM (EBPM), non-focal EBPM, and time-based PM (TBPM). Two experimental tasks were employed to measure sustained, selective, and executive attention. In Study 2, 157 healthy older adults (Mage = 66.19) were randomly allocated to an OM group or a MW group. Using a mood induction paradigm (neutral vs. negative), three types of PM (focal EBPM, non-focal EBPM, and TBPM) were assessed.

Results

In Study 1, the FA group outperformed the MW group in focal EBPM (p < 0.05); however, this improvement was only weakly and partially mediated by enhanced sustained attention (p < 0.05). In Study 2, the OM group exhibited better performance than the MW group in focal EBPM under a negative mood induction (p < 0.01).

Conclusions

This study offers preliminary evidence that FA and OM meditations are beneficial for PM in older adults. Even brief 25-min inductions of FA and OM can produce measurable benefits in focal EBPM, which can facilitate older adults to achieve functional independence and contribute to a successful aging experience.

Preregistration

This study is not preregistered

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Data Availability

Data is available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Data is not publicly available due to privacy concerns.

References

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. Aya Kwan for her generous help in the preparation of study materials for this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Alex Pak Lik Tsang: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data Collection, Data Analyses, Writing- Original Draft Preparation, Writing- Reviewing and Editing. Huijing Lu: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing- Reviewing and Editing. Herman Hay Ming Lo: Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing- Reviewing and Editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alex Pak Lik Tsang.

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Ethics Statement

Ethical approval of this was given by the Institutional Review Board at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Reference no.: HSEARS20210714006).

Informed Consent

All participants have provided their written consent before participation.

Conflict of Interest

We have no conflict of interest to disclose. The research received no specific grant from any funding agencies.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence was not used.

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Tsang, A.P.L., Lu, H. & Lo, H.H.M. The Acute Effects of Focused Attention and Open Monitoring Meditations on Prospective Memory in Older Adults. Mindfulness 15, 19–36 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02292-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-023-02292-4

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