The effects of brief mindfulness meditation (BMM) on attention networks remain unclear. Using event-related potentials (ERP), researchers examined how 18 days of Anapanasati meditation (JW2016 mental exercises, 15 minutes a day) modulate attentional functions in healthy adults. The study was published in npj Science of Learning on 23 September 2026; it is an early version of an accepted, peer-reviewed article with a permanent DOI, which may undergo further editing and will be replaced by the final version. The authors are Yong Huang, Jia-Hui Guo, Shuai Zheng, Rui Yin, Junyu Wang and Chun-Lei Jiang; the first three authors are listed as having contributed equally. The study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Programme of China (grant No. 2025YFE0117700), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 32170931) and the university’s Youth Startup programme (grant No. 2023QN029).
Behavioural results
At the behavioural level, BMM selectively enhanced the executive control network. This was reflected in significantly faster overall responses (from approximately 631 to 599 ms on average) and a marked reduction in conflict-related processing costs, with no loss of task accuracy.
EEG findings
Simultaneous EEG analysis showed that BMM reorganised the temporal dynamics of processing and promoted greater neural efficiency. Specifically, the intervention produced a strategic widening of the P3N1 latency interval by 25,52 ms (p < 0,05): faster early perceptual encoding (N1) was combined with more prolonged, deliberate higher-order evaluation (P3).
In addition, channel-level ANCOVA results revealed frontal modulation of the P3N1 latency index, with significant effects at F3, Fp2 and Fz, as well as posterior modulation of the P3N1 peak-to-peak amplitude index, with significant effects at P4 and Oz. This indicates a more economical allocation of neural resources.
Conclusions and limitations
The findings demonstrate that brief daily mindfulness practices can rapidly optimise executive control by increasing neural efficiency, triggering a strategic neurocognitive shift towards more efficient information processing. In the authors’ view, these neuroplastic adaptations have considerable potential for scalable cognitive training and educational applications.
The authors declare no competing interests. The publisher notes that Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
