The mindful eye: Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements in meditators and non-meditators

Veena Kumari; Elena Antonova; Bernice Wright; Aseel Hamid; Eva Machado Hernandez; Anne Schmechtig; Ulrich Ettinger

doi:10.1016/j.concog.2016.10.008

The mindful eye: Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements in meditators and non-meditators

Veena Kumari^*, Elena Antonova, Bernice Wright, Aseel Hamid, Eva Machado Hernandez, Anne Schmechtig, Ulrich Ettinger

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Background This study examined the effects of cultivated (i.e. developed through training) and dispositional (trait) mindfulness on smooth pursuit (SPEM) and antisaccade (AS) tasks known to engage the fronto-parietal network implicated in attentional and motion detection processes, and the fronto-striatal network implicated in cognitive control, respectively. Methods Sixty healthy men (19–59 years), of whom 30 were experienced mindfulness practitioners and 30 meditation-naïve, underwent infrared oculographic assessment of SPEM and AS performance. Trait mindfulness was assessed using the self-report Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Results Meditators, relative to meditation-naïve individuals, made significantly fewer catch-up and anticipatory saccades during the SPEM task, and had significantly lower intra-individual variability in gain and spatial error during the AS task. No SPEM or AS measure correlated significantly with FFMQ scores in meditation-naïve individuals. Conclusions Cultivated, but not dispositional, mindfulness is associated with improved attention and sensorimotor control as indexed by SPEM and AS tasks.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	66-75
Number of pages	10
Journal	Consciousness and Cognition
Volume	48
Early online date	12 Nov 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.10.008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2016.10.008
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2017

Keywords

Antisaccade
Attention
Control
Dispositional mindfulness
Intra-individual variability
Meditation
Mindfulness

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The mindful eye_KUMARI_Accepted21Oct2016_GOLD VoRFinal published version, 317 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "The mindful eye: Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements in meditators and non-meditators",

abstract = "Background This study examined the effects of cultivated (i.e. developed through training) and dispositional (trait) mindfulness on smooth pursuit (SPEM) and antisaccade (AS) tasks known to engage the fronto-parietal network implicated in attentional and motion detection processes, and the fronto-striatal network implicated in cognitive control, respectively. Methods Sixty healthy men (19–59 years), of whom 30 were experienced mindfulness practitioners and 30 meditation-na{\"i}ve, underwent infrared oculographic assessment of SPEM and AS performance. Trait mindfulness was assessed using the self-report Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Results Meditators, relative to meditation-na{\"i}ve individuals, made significantly fewer catch-up and anticipatory saccades during the SPEM task, and had significantly lower intra-individual variability in gain and spatial error during the AS task. No SPEM or AS measure correlated significantly with FFMQ scores in meditation-na{\"i}ve individuals. Conclusions Cultivated, but not dispositional, mindfulness is associated with improved attention and sensorimotor control as indexed by SPEM and AS tasks.",

keywords = "Antisaccade, Attention, Control, Dispositional mindfulness, Intra-individual variability, Meditation, Mindfulness",

author = "Veena Kumari and Elena Antonova and Bernice Wright and Aseel Hamid and Hernandez, {Eva Machado} and Anne Schmechtig and Ulrich Ettinger",

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AU - Antonova, Elena

AU - Wright, Bernice

AU - Hamid, Aseel

AU - Hernandez, Eva Machado

AU - Schmechtig, Anne

AU - Ettinger, Ulrich

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N2 - Background This study examined the effects of cultivated (i.e. developed through training) and dispositional (trait) mindfulness on smooth pursuit (SPEM) and antisaccade (AS) tasks known to engage the fronto-parietal network implicated in attentional and motion detection processes, and the fronto-striatal network implicated in cognitive control, respectively. Methods Sixty healthy men (19–59 years), of whom 30 were experienced mindfulness practitioners and 30 meditation-naïve, underwent infrared oculographic assessment of SPEM and AS performance. Trait mindfulness was assessed using the self-report Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Results Meditators, relative to meditation-naïve individuals, made significantly fewer catch-up and anticipatory saccades during the SPEM task, and had significantly lower intra-individual variability in gain and spatial error during the AS task. No SPEM or AS measure correlated significantly with FFMQ scores in meditation-naïve individuals. Conclusions Cultivated, but not dispositional, mindfulness is associated with improved attention and sensorimotor control as indexed by SPEM and AS tasks.

AB - Background This study examined the effects of cultivated (i.e. developed through training) and dispositional (trait) mindfulness on smooth pursuit (SPEM) and antisaccade (AS) tasks known to engage the fronto-parietal network implicated in attentional and motion detection processes, and the fronto-striatal network implicated in cognitive control, respectively. Methods Sixty healthy men (19–59 years), of whom 30 were experienced mindfulness practitioners and 30 meditation-naïve, underwent infrared oculographic assessment of SPEM and AS performance. Trait mindfulness was assessed using the self-report Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Results Meditators, relative to meditation-naïve individuals, made significantly fewer catch-up and anticipatory saccades during the SPEM task, and had significantly lower intra-individual variability in gain and spatial error during the AS task. No SPEM or AS measure correlated significantly with FFMQ scores in meditation-naïve individuals. Conclusions Cultivated, but not dispositional, mindfulness is associated with improved attention and sensorimotor control as indexed by SPEM and AS tasks.

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The mindful eye: Smooth pursuit and saccadic eye movements in meditators and non-meditators

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Keywords

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