Meditation Promotes Attention Span

Buddhist meditation techniques not only confer peace of mind, but can improve sharpen attention skills and the ability to focus. Katherine MacLean, from the University of California/Davis (California, USA), and colleagues arranged for 30 men and women, average age 49 years, each of whom were familiar with meditative techniques , to go on a three-month long meditation retreat, at which each was taught concentrate techniques and performed various tests of focus skills; as well, they attended group meditation sessions and engaged in individual meditative practice.   Another group of 30 people familiar with meditation went on a similar retreat, but did not receive specialized training, thus acting as the controls. At three timepoints during the retreat period, the participants took a computerized test that assessed visual attention span and the capacity to discern distinctive pattern changes.   The researchers found that as the meditation training progressed, the subjects who received specialized training were more skilled at the computerized testing, suggesting that attention skills became sustained better. The team reports that the improvements in concentration lasted five months after the retreat concluded.