Author(s): YAN, M., HAIPENG, L., Institution: CHINA INSTITUTE OF SPORT SCIENCE, BEIJING, CHIN, Country: CHINA, Abstract-ID: 466

INTRODUCTION: Currently, an increasing number of people are recognizing the effectiveness of mindfulness meditation training in improving attention and adopting it as a means to enhance attentional capacity [1,2]. Dynamic visual attention in football relies on efficient psychophysiological regulation. Traditional mindfulness training lacks real-time, objective feedback[3]. This study investigated whether Open Monitoring (OM) meditation, when assisted by AI-driven real-time neurofeedback, is more effective than similarly assisted Focused Attention (FA) training in improving mindfulness, parasympathetic regulation, and dynamic attention in athletes.
METHODS: We recruited 32 soccer players (age: 20.69 ± 0.14 years) and 32 university students (age: 20.22 ± 0.67 years) who had no prior meditation experience. The study used a 3 (Time: pre-test, post-single-session, post-6-weeks) × 4 (Probe Location: target, non-target, blank, no-probe) × 3 (Group: FA, OM, control) mixed-design. Both meditation groups participated in a 6-week program (40 minutes per session/week) with identical Brainco BCI headsets for AI-driven neurofeedback. Only the meditation style differed. Outcomes included mindfulness (FFMQ), heart rate variability (HRV), and dynamic visual attention (MOT with dot-probe). We collected measurements at pre-test, post-single-session, and post-6-weeks to ensure consistency.
RESULTS: After the 6-week intervention, OM meditation with AI-driven feedback improved mindfulness in students (p < 0.05) and soccer players (p = 0.009). It also increased parasympathetic activity in both groups (RMSSD/HF, p < 0.05). In contrast, FA meditation did not significantly affect HRV. Tracking accuracy improved in all groups (p < 0.001). Detection sensitivity increased only for students in the meditation groups (p < 0.05), highlighting intervention differences.
DISCUSSION: Short-term OM meditation, facilitated by AI-real-time neurofeedback, effectively enhanced mindfulness and parasympathetic regulation in football athletes, according to these results. Compared to FA meditation, AI-supported OM meditation can substantially improve athletes' cognitive and physiological readiness, potentially supporting better performance in competitive sports. Further research is needed to determine the long-term effects and generalizability to other athlete populations.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: This study was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds of the China Institute of Sport Science (Grant No. 25-28).
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