Effect of mindfulness meditation on brain-computer interface performance.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine whether mindfulness meditation training could improve the performance of BCI users, beyond any expectancy effects.
Results Summary
The mindfulness meditation training group achieved significantly higher BCI accuracy compared to both the music training and no-treatment control groups, indicating meditation's effects were not due to expectancy alone.
Population
Seventy-six healthy volunteers.
Effective Dosage
Not specified.
Duration
12 weeks.
Interactions
None mentioned.
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mindfulness meditation training | increase | BCI accuracy | healthy volunteers | - | significantly higher | #1 |
mindfulness meditation | increase | metacognitive regulation | - | - | has been claimed to enhance | #2 |
meditation intervention | increase | BCI task performance | - | - | elicited clear expectations for improvement | #3 |
music intervention | increase | BCI task performance | - | - | elicited clear expectations for improvement | #4 |
Electroencephalogram based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) enable stroke and motor neuron disease patients to communicate and control devices. Mindfulness meditation has been claimed to enhance metacognitive regulation. The current study explores whether mindfulness meditation training can thus improve the performance of BCI users. To eliminate the possibility of expectation of improvement influencing the results, we introduced a music training condition. A norming study found that both meditation and music interventions elicited clear expectations for improvement on the BCI task, with the strength of expectation being closely matched. In the main 12 week intervention study, seventy-six healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to three groups: a meditation training group; a music training group; and a no treatment control group. The mindfulness meditation training group obtained a significantly higher BCI accuracy compared to both the music training and no-treatment control groups after the intervention, indicating effects of meditation above and beyond expectancy effects.