Long-term mind-body exercise enhances cognitive control over working memory-driven attentional capture

Cai, Biye; Liu, Guoping; Jiang, Wu; Zhang, Zonghao · 2026 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1775012

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Summary

This study investigates whether long-term mind-body exercise enhances cognitive control over working memory (WM)-driven attentional capture. WM representations automatically bias attention toward matching stimuli, a process known as attentional capture, which can disrupt task performance if the matched stimuli are irrelevant distractors. While previous research indicates that mind-body exercises like Baduanjin improve general cognitive control, their specific effect on resisting proactive interference from WM has remained unexplored. The authors hypothesized that 16 weeks of Baduanjin training would strengthen top-down cognitive control, thereby reducing the magnitude of WM-driven attentional capture. The study employed a randomized controlled design with 61 healthy college students divided into a training group (n=31) and a control group (n=30). The training group underwent a 16-week Baduanjin intervention, consisting of three 60-minute sessions per week, while the control group received no intervention. Cognitive performance was assessed using a classic WM/visual search dual-task paradigm before and after the intervention. In this task, participants memorized a shape and then searched for a tilted line among distractors that varied in their match to the memorized item (shape, color, conjunction, or neutral). Reaction times (RTs) and accuracy rates were recorded to measure the extent of attentional capture, defined as the RT difference between match conditions and the neutral condition. Results indicated that both groups improved in overall search and memory RTs from pretest to posttest, suggesting general practice effects. However, the critical finding was a significant reduction in WM-driven attentional capture specifically within the training group. Post-intervention, the training group showed significantly smaller capture effects for shape and color matches compared to the control group, whereas the control group’s capture effects remained stable. Specifically, the training group’s ability to suppress attention to memory-matching distractors improved, evidenced by reduced RT differences between match and neutral conditions. Accuracy rates remained high across all conditions and groups, indicating that the effects were driven by speed rather than accuracy trade-offs. The findings provide preliminary evidence that long-term Baduanjin exercise enhances the ability to resist proactive interference at the memory level. This improvement is attributed to strengthened top-down cognitive control and optimized allocation of attentional resources. The study enriches the understanding of the dynamic interplay between WM and attentional control, demonstrating that mind-body exercise can modulate involuntary attentional biases. These results suggest that Baduanjin may serve as an effective behavioral intervention for improving distractor suppression in distraction-rich environments, offering practical implications for cognitive health and performance optimization.

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• executive function