CUTTING THROUGH THE HODGEPODGE
The scientific literature on the effects of meditation amounts to a h' odgepodge of bad, good, and remarkable results in a mix of questionable methodologies, so-so designs, and gold-standard studies. So I asked the dean of contemplative neuroscience, Wisconsin's Richard Davidson, to sort through it all and summarize the clear benefits for attention of mindfulness practice. He immediately ticked off two big ones.
"Mindfulness," he said, "boosts the classic attention network in the brain's fronto-parietal system that works together to allocate attention. These circuits are fundamental in the basic movement of attention: disengaging your focus from one thing, moving it to another, and staying with that new object of attention."
Another key improvement is in selective attention, inhibit ing the pull of distractors. This lets us focus on what's important rather than be distracted by what's going on around us-you can keep your focus on the meaning of these words instead of having it pulled away by, say, checking this endnote.9 This is the essence of cognitive control.
Though so far there are just a few well-designed studies of mindfulness in children, "[i]n adults there seems to be strong data on mindfulness and attention networks," according to Mark Greenberg, professor of human development at Pennsylvania State University.10 Greenberg, who himself is leading studies of mindful ness in young people, is cautious but optimistic.
One of the bigger benefits for students is in understanding. Wandering minds punch holes in comprehension. The antidote for mind wandering is meta-awareness, attention to attention itself, as in the ability to notice that you are not noticing what you should, and correcting your focus. Mindfulness makes this crucial atten tion muscle stronger.Then there are the well-established relaxation effects, such as the calm emanating from a breathing buddies classroom. This ph siological impact suggests a downshift in the set point for arousal in the vagus nerve circuitry, the key to staying calm understress and recovering quickly from upsets. The vagus nerve man ages a host of physiological functions, most notably heart rate and so the quickness of recovery from stress.