Positive Effects of Mindfulness-Based Training on Energy Maintenance and the EEG Correlates of Sustained Attention in a Cohort of Nurses
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Summary
This study investigates whether mindfulness-based training (MBT) can mitigate declines in sustained attention and reduce the subjective energetic costs associated with prolonged focus in nurses, a profession prone to attentional lapses and fatigue. The research was motivated by the critical need for sustained attentiveness in medical settings to prevent errors, and the potential of MBT to enhance metacognitive control and attentional stability. The authors aimed to determine if an 8-week MBT intervention would improve performance on the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), alter electroencephalography (EEG) markers of attention, and decrease subjective feelings of energy depletion. The study employed a pre-post intervention design with 36 nurses from a public hospital. Participants underwent baseline testing (Session 1) and post-intervention testing (Session 2) after an 8-week MBT program based on Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction principles. Due to substantial variability in training attendance (mean 4.14 sessions out of 8), attendance was used as a covariate in all analyses. Data collection included 64-channel EEG recordings during resting states, meditation, and a 20-minute PVT. Behavioral metrics included median response speed and lapse counts. EEG analysis focused on alpha power during meditation, P3 event-related potentials, and alpha-band event-related desynchronization (ERD) during the PVT. Subjective energy and mood were assessed using Likert-type scales before and after the PVT. Results indicated that while average PVT performance worsened over the 8-week period, this decline was significantly mitigated by higher MBT attendance. Nurses with better attendance showed improved response speeds and fewer lapses compared to those with low attendance. EEG analysis revealed that alpha power during meditation decreased significantly across all scalp regions post-intervention, with the magnitude of change positively correlated with attendance. During the PVT, P3 amplitude showed a significant session-by-time interaction, where high attendees exhibited smaller declines in P3 amplitude over time, indicating reduced attentional withdrawal. Additionally, ERD changes were negatively correlated with attendance, suggesting reduced neural noise synchronization with more training. Subjectively, nurses who attended more sessions reported significantly smaller decreases in energy levels following the PVT, although no significant changes were observed in mood scales. Sleep duration did not differ between sessions, ruling out sleep pressure as a confounding factor. The findings suggest that while the nursing profession may inherently involve cognitive declines over time due to stress and fatigue, regular participation in MBT can attenuate these negative effects. The study demonstrates that MBT enhances sustained attention and reduces the subjective and neurophysiological costs of maintaining focus. However, the authors note the absence of a control group, meaning placebo effects or other factors cannot be ruled out. The results imply that MBT could be a viable strategy for improving patient safety and nurse wellbeing by bolstering attentional resilience in high-stress medical environments.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 3 | 2026-08-10 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| enrich | success | semantic_scholar | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-08-09 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-nvidia | summ-v5 | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 10 | 2026-08-11 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 2 | 2026-08-10 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-nvidia on 2026-08-10; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: physiological data