Attention & Relaxation Enhancement using Meditation as an Intervention: A Psychological and Physiological Study

Abstract

Background: Attention is a process of focusing on particular information while ignoring other information. Paying attention makes all the difference, in both professional and personal lives. This cognitive attribute therefore needs to be enhanced. This enhancement can be done with the help of intervention. To measure the enhancement it is essential that the cognitive attribute of attention be assessed before and after intervention. Here in this research work we are observing how the attention of 14 subjects change while performing various attention tasks. Also we are analyzing the change in EEG and task performance for relaxation and attention enhancement after giving meditation as an intervention. Method: We have taken fourteen subjects and made them perform attention task from The Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL). Electroencephalography (EEG) readings of these subjects are taken while they are performing task on PEBL. The EEG readings of these students are also taken while they are doing nothing with closed and opened eyes. The readings with eyes closed and eyes opened are taken as the baseline. Alpha power which is an indicator of relaxation is extracted from EEG and analysed for relaxation. The students are then divided in two groups: 1) Control group consisting of seven students on which no intervention is given. 2) Meditators group consisting of seven students on which meditation is given as an intervention. Similar readings are taken for these students after 15 days. Comparative study is done on the pre and post-intervention psychological and physiological data of both control and meditators group. Result: It is observed through the scores of psychological tasks that attention of the meditators is improved in various attention tasks after intervention. It is also observed that alpha power increases post-meditation indicating that the meditators’ group is more relaxed while performing attention tasks post-intervention. Therefore we can conclude that meditation improves attention as well as relaxation.