Chih-Han Wu
Graduate Institute of Athletics and Coaching Science, National Taiwan Sport University
Feng-Tzu Chen
Department of Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University
Chi-Yen Lin Yu-Kai Chang
Physical Education Office, National Taiwan Ocean University
Yu-Kai Chang
Department of Physical Education, National Taiwan Normal University
The purpose of this study was to review the relationships of mindfulness and mental health on event-related potentials (ERP) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results show that better mental health is consistently correlated with the effects of mindfulness interventions or higher individual dispositions of mindfulness. Studies demonstrate that mindfulness not only positively correlates with behavioral performance, it also has positive correlations with different ERPs (such as N1, N2, P2, P3, and LPP). Similar positive effects were also observed in activation of different brain structures, including the insula and the anterior cingulate gyrus. At present, our own research context (in Taiwan) has yet to more systematically explore the effects of mindfulness on neurophysiology or the activation of brain structures. However, previous research has often already used emotion-related cognitive tests to observe ERPs and conduct fMRI scans. Therefore, the authors suggest that future research should further explore different types of mindfulness interventions and cognitive tasks while continuing to use ERP or fMRI methods to research the underlying mechanisms.
Keywords: mindfulness, event-related potentials, functional magnetic resonance imaging