小結

冥想從根本上重新培養注意力，不同類型的冥想提升了注意力的不同方面。正念減壓療法提高了選擇性注意力，而長期的內觀禪修訓練則會進一步強化選擇性注意力。在沙瑪莎項目為期三個月的內觀禪修結束後，冥想者的警惕性在接下來的5個月裡也會得到提高，他們具備了保持注意力的能力。經過三個月的內觀禪修，注意瞬脫的現象明顯減少，但是初學者接受僅17分鐘長的正念訓練後，注意瞬脫的現象便開始減少。毫無疑問，對初學者而言，這種訓練會讓他們漸入佳境；對靜修者而言，這會成為他們一種持久的特質。這種熟能生巧的原則可能同樣適用於其他急於求成的冥想者：只要10分鐘的正念訓練，至少就可在短期內克服因處理多重任務而引發的注意力消退的現象；僅8分鐘長的正念訓練即可減少一時的走神。兩週內，大約10個小時的正念訓練增強了注意力和工作記憶，同時GRE成績也大幅得以提升。雖然冥想改善了注意力的許多方面，但這些改善只是短期的成果。毫無疑問，只有不斷地進行訓練才能保持良好的效果。

[1] Charlotte Joko Beck, Nothing Special: Living Zen (New York: Harper Collins,1993), p.168.

[2] Akira Kasamatsu and Tomio Hirai, “An Electroencephalographic Study on Zen Meditation (Zazen),” Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 20:4 (1966): 325-36.

[3] Elena Antonova et al., “More Meditation, Less Habituation: The Effect of Intensive Mindfulness Practice on the Acoustic Startle Reflex,” PLoS One 10:5(2015): 1-16; doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0123512. 冥想者被要求在聽到噪聲時保持“開放的意識”，而冥想初學者被要求“在整個實驗過程中保持警覺和清醒……如果發現自己走神了，就將意識拉回周圍環境中”。

[4] T. R. A. Kral et al., “Meditation Training Is Associated with Altered Amygdala Reactivity to Emotional Stimuli,” under review, 2017.

[5] Amishi Jha et al., “Mindfulness Training Modifies Subsystems of Attention,”Cognitive, Affective, &Behavioral Neuroscience 7:2 (2007): 109-19; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17672382.

[6] Catherine E. Kerr et al., “Effects of Mindfulness Meditation Training on Anticipatory Alpha Modulation in Primary Somatosensory Cortex,” Brain Research Bulletin 85 (2011): 98-103.

[7] Antoine Lutz, et al.. “Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence,” Journal of Neuroscience 29:42 (2009): 1341827; Heleen A. Slagter, et al., “Theta Phase Synchrony and Conscious Target Perception: Impact of Intensive Mental Training,” Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 21:8 (2009): 1536-49. 陽性對照組在三個月的開始和結束時分別接受了一小時的正念訓練，並被指導每天練習20分鐘，與訓練之前相比，其選擇性注意力並沒有提高。

[8] Katherine A. MacLean et al., “Intensive Meditation Training Improves Perceptual Discrimination and Sustained Attention,” Psychological Science 21:6 (2010): 829-39.

[9] H. A. Slagter et al., “Mental Training Affects Distribution of Limited Brain Resources,” PLoS Biology 5:6 (2007): e138; doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050138. 在相同的時間間隔內，對非冥想控制組進行測試，其注意瞬脫沒有發生變化。

[10] Sara van Leeuwen et al., “Age Effects on Attentional Blink Performance in Meditation,” Consciousness and Cognition 18 (2009): 593-99.

[11] Lorenzo S. Colzato et al., “Meditation-Induced States Predict Attentional Control over Time,” Consciousness and Cognition 37 (2015): 57-62.

[12] E. Ophir et al., “Cognitive Control in Multi-Taskers,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106:37 (2009): 15583-87.

[13] Clifford Nass, in an NPR interview, as quoted in Fast Company, February 2,2014.

[14] Thomas E. Gorman and C. Shawn Gree, “Short-Term Mindfulness Intervention Reduces the Negative Attentional Effects Associated with Heavy Media Multitasking,” Scientific Report 6 (2016): 24542; doi:10.1038/srep24542.

[15] Michael D. Mrazek et al., “Mindfulness and Mind Wandering: Finding Convergence through Opposing Constructs,” Emotion 12:3 (2012): 442-48.

[16] Michael D. Mrazek et al., “Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering,” Psychological Science 24:5 (2013): 776-81.

[17] Bajinder K. Sahdra et al., “Enhanced Response Inhibition During Intensive Meditation Predicts Improvements in Self-Reported Adaptive Socioemotional Functioning,” Emotion 11:2 (2011): 299-312.

[18] Sam Harris, Waking up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion (NY: Simon& Schuster, 2015), p.144.

[19] 例如，參見：Daniel Kahneman, Thinking，Fast and Slow (New York:Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011)。

[20] R. C. Lapate et al., “Awareness of Emotional Stimuli Determines the Behavioral Consequences of Amygdala Activation and Amygdala-Prefrontal Connectivity,” Scientific Reports20:6 (2016):25826; doi:10.1038/srep25826.

[21] Benjamin Baird et al., “Domain-Specific Enhancement of Metacognitive Ability Following Meditation Training,” Journal of Experimental Psychology:General 143:5 (2014): 1972-79; http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0036882. 冥想組和陽性對照組進行兩週每週4次、每次45分鐘的課程，並且每天進行15分鐘的家庭練習。

[22] Amishi Jha et al., “Mindfulness Training Modifies Subsystems of Attention,”Cognitive Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience 7:2(2007): 109-19; doi:10.3758/cabn.7.2.109.