Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash
If you’re a student or a working professional whose work relies on accuracy, you may be the biggest beneficiary of this newly discovered life ‘hack’. According to a study published in September 2019, Michigan State University (MSU) researchers found that practicing meditation, or mindfulness (defined as “focusing on one’s feelings, thoughts, or sensations as they unfold in the mind”) may increase a person’s ability to recognize errors.
Jeff Lin and his MSU colleagues conducted the study with 200 participants to examine how meditation affected how people responded to errors. Using electroencephalography (EEG) to track brain activity during a test, researchers found that 20 minutes of meditation altered brain activity in a way that strengthened a neural signal linked to conscious error-recognition.
What happens when we meditate
In recent years, many studies have shown the numerous health benefits that meditation can offer. When we practice meditation, our brains produce more alpha waves, which have been correlated to lower depressive symptoms and increased creativity. Additionally, meditation can lower blood pressure, improve emotional awareness, and reduce overall stress and anxiety. Knowing this, it’s not too much of a surprise that we can still find even more benefits that come along with mindfulness. For a more comprehensive overview of meditation on the brain, check out the video by AsapSCIENCE below on the scientific power of meditation.
What these new findings mean moving forward
The full effects of meditation and the mechanics behind it are still very far from being completely understood, so this new evidence showing an enhanced ability in the brain to detect mistakes after a simple 20 minute meditation exercise has exciting implications for future research. Jason Moser from the MSU research team says, “it makes us feel more confident in what mindfulness meditation might really be capable of for performance and daily functioning.”
Sandra Yoo
Nov. 11, 2019
