Effects of long-term mindfulness meditation training on attentional capacity in professional male fencer athletes.
Scientific reports April 15, 2025 Hong Ding, Lei Zhang, Chao Ma et al. 9 citations
Twenty weeks of mindfulness meditation training, three 20-minute sessions per week, improved attention span, concentrativeness, stability, and attentional networks in professional male fencer athletes compared to a control condition involving mind-wandering audio. The mindfulness group also showed increased oxygenated hemoglobin concentration in the prefrontal cortex during cognitive tests, lower mental fatigue, and lower salivary cortisol after the intervention. No significant differences were found for distractibility or attentional blink on task-irrelevant information. The authors suggest that long-term mindfulness meditation after physical training enhances attentive capacity and cerebral oxygenation, which may facilitate focus and improve athletic performance.