The effect of mindfulness meditation on time perception

• Published in: Consciousness and cognition Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 846 - 852
• Main Authors: Kramer, Robin S.S., Weger, Ulrich W., Sharma, Dinkar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.09.2013; Elsevier; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Activity levels. Psychomotricity; Adolescent; Arousal; Attention; Attention - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition & reasoning; Cognition. Intelligence; Consciousness; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Male; Meditation; Mindfulness; Perceptions; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychomotor Performance; Spatial perception. Time perception; Temporal bisection; Time; Time perception; Time Perception - physiology; Vigilance. Attention. Sleep; Young Adult; Meditation; Mindfulness; Temporal bisection; Attention; Arousal; Time perception; Human; Cognition; Experimental study
• ISSN: 1053-8100; 1090-2376; 1090-2376
• DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.05.008

•We examined the effect of mindfulness meditation on time perception.•Mindfulness meditation increased perceived duration, therefore slowing time.•A control task had no effect on perceived duration.•Mindfulness meditation altered time perception via attentional processes. Research has increasingly focussed on the benefits of meditation in everyday life and performance. Mindfulness in particular improves attention, working memory capacity, and reading comprehension. Given its emphasis on moment-to-moment awareness, we hypothesised that mindfulness meditation would alter time perception. Using a within-subjects design, participants carried out a temporal bisection task, where several probe durations are compared to “short” and “long” standards. Following this, participants either listened to an audiobook or a meditation that focussed on the movement of breath in the body. Finally, participants completed the temporal bisection task for a second time. The control group showed no change after the listening task. However, meditation led to a relative overestimation of durations. Within an internal clock framework, a change in attentional resources can produce longer perceived durations. This meditative effect has wider implications for the use of mindfulness as an everyday practice and a basis for clinical treatment.