Technology and meditation: A promising combination?

Mindfulness meditation has been increasingly explored as a strategy to improve attention and inhibitory control. With technological advances, new ways of practicing it have emerged, such as through virtual reality (VR), which creates immersive and interactive environments, often enhanced with game-like elements (known as gamification) to boost user engagement.

In a recent study coordinated by Ana Ganho-Ávila, researchers tested the combination of VR-based mindfulness single session with non-invasive brain stimulation using a low-intensity electrical current (tDCS). A total of 107 healthy adults participated, randomly assigned to five groups: four engaged in VR tasks – two with mindfulness meditation and two with mind-wandering − combined with either active or simulated (sham) brain stimulation; the fifth group did not receive intervention.

The study assessed immediate effects on tasks measuring sustained attention and inhibitory control, as well as physiological indicators of emotional arousal (skin conductance). The results did not show statistically significant differences in cognitive performance between groups. However, the group that practiced mindfulness with active brain stimulation showed lower physiological arousal compared to the mind-wandering group with sham stimulation, suggesting a potential calming effect associated with the combined intervention.

This research contributes to the growing body of knowledge on combined digital interventions in non-clinical contexts, highlighting the importance of exploring variables such as duration, frequency, and participant profiles in future studies. This study was published in the International Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology, in the article The impact of transcranial direct current stimulation combined with virtual reality-based mindfulness on attention and inhibitory control in healthy individuals, as a part of research project 323/24 - The psychophysiological and neurocognitive correlates of mindfulness in virtual reality environment (VRMindful), supported by the Bial Foundation.

Abstract

Combining virtual reality-focused mindfulness (VR-FM) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can enhance cognitive performance, offering new insights for scientific research and clinical applications. We aimed to examine the effects of a single session of VR-FM, a single session of tDCS, and their combination on sustained attention, attention control, and inhibitory control. We conducted a double-blind, controlled, randomized study (N = 107) with five groups: VR-FM or VR-mind wandering, paired with active (2 mA for 20 min) or sham tDCS with the anode over F3 and cathode over F4, and a no-intervention control group. Non-specific skin conductance response (nsSCR) was collected during virtual reality, and cognitive performance was measured with Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) and the Emotional Stroop (EST) after intervention. Differences between groups were not statistically significant in cognitive tasks (all p>.05) but we found a main effect of group in nsSCR (F (3, 66) = 4.07, p = .010, η² = 0.156), with significant differences between VR-FM + tDCS active and VR-MW + tDCS sham (p = .014). Single sessions of VR-FM and tDCS did not significantly impact cognitive performance. However, reduced autonomic activation might be associated with mindfulness. Future studies should include several sessions and consider other individual conditions to understand the factors involved.