Liverpool John Moores University is looking for people interested in meditation and attention to take part in two separate research studies.
Researchers at the School of Natural Sciences and Psychology are currently conducting a number of research projects that aim to develop an understanding of the underlying processes of mindfulness and are looking for potential participants for these projects.
Mindfulness may be described as the ability to pay deliberate attention to our experience from moment to moment, to what is going on in our mind, body and day to day life and doing this without immediate judgment. Mindfulness may be inherent or trained by various techniques including meditation. It is increasingly being recognized that mindfulness has numerous everyday benefits.
A five-week study starting this autumn will be looking at the relationship between meditation and brain activity. Participants will be randomly assigned to a meditation group or non-meditating control group and must be willing and able to attend LJMU on five occasions to have their brain activity monitored while they complete questionnaires and tests of attention and receive meditation training. Participants will receive meditation training and gift vouchers worth £20 as thanks for their involvement with the study.
The second study aims to investigate the relationship between mindfulness and age-related changes in cognitive processes. Those involved in this study will attend one testing session to complete questionnaires and cognitive tasks. Participants should be aged 45 to 75 and will be reimbursed with a £10 gift voucher.
For more information about these studies and to find out if you are eligible to take part, visit www.ljmu.ac.uk/mindfulness
