The Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on Cognitive Memory and Concentration as Indicators for Neurodegenerative Diseases and Disorders
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v13i2.6810Keywords:
Alzheimer's Disease, Cognitive memory, Mindfulness-based interventions, Mindfulness meditation, Parkinson's Disease, Brain developmentAbstract
Meditation has been shown to have properties of improving neurocognitive memory and attention. However, there has been little research on mindfulness meditation. This study aims to highlight mindfulness meditation and its effects on memory and concentration. It was hypothesized that if research participants undergo a 10-minute mindfulness meditation period, then there will be a statistically significant increase in their cognitive memory and concentration as measured by their scores on a pattern memorization test and a color-word association test. Adults were randomly assigned to a no mindfulness meditation control group or the mindfulness treatment group. Both experimental groups then took a word memorization test and color-word association test where the percentage of words and colors they could identify were collected. The treatment group engaged in a 10-minute mindfulness session and both groups took both tests again. Four one-way ANOVA tests were conducted, with the first and second comparing the before and after mindfulness meditation test scores on both tests of the mindfulness group (p = 0.0247 for the word test and p = 0.0387 for the color test) and the final two ANOVA tests comparing the no mindfulness and mindfulness meditation groups after the session (p = 0.0346 for the word test and p = 0.0478 for the color test). Mindfulness meditation was determined to have a significant increase in memory and concentration in this study, and it is hoped that mindfulness meditation would be implemented as a therapy for a wide range of neurological conditions.
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