Research Symposium

BIO

I am interested in holistic interventions for treatment of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other cognitive disorders.

Exploring the relationship between mindfulness and episodic memory performance

Abstract

The practice of mindfulness and meditation has influenced numerous Eastern cultures for centuries. In recent years, the West has adopted the practice as a holistic approach to promote well-being and quality of life. Consequently, there is need for empirical evidence that speaks to the link between mindfulness and quality of life. In this study, I ask whether and how mindfulness and meditation relate to episodic memory performance. To test this, I first quantify mindfulness by using the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), which captures five different dimensions of mindfulness. Then, I quantify episodic memory performance using two lab-based episodic memory tasks. In the first, participants are asked to discriminate between novel and experimentally familiar stimuli based on awareness of differences in time of encoding. In the second, participants are required to remember a brief narrative with two different delay intervals, i.e., immediately after encoding and again after a 20-minute delay. It is expected that individuals who score highly on the FFMQ will perform more accurately in the episodic memory measurements. To the extent that the lab-based episodic memory tasks used here approximate the mechanisms that support memory for everyday experiences, these results would reveal a potential target for interventions for individuals experiencing memory decline and corresponding compromises in well-being and quality of life.

Keywords: mindfulness, psychology, neuroscience, holistic, science