Mindfulness on Creativity

The Effect of Focused Attention and Open Monitoring Meditation on Creativity in Scientific Researchers

Purpose of the Study

This clinical trial aims to find out whether a 5-day mindfulness training program can help improve creativity in academic researchers. The study focuses on answering these key questions:

Can focused-attention (FA) and open-monitoring (OM) meditation boost creativity in academic researchers?

Do FA and OM meditation have different effects on creativity?

How does the training affect brain activity (measured by electrical signals)?

Researchers will compare the effects of FA and OM meditation with a control group that listens to audio recordings, to see which method-if any-helps improve creativity.

What Participants Will Do

Join one of three groups: FA meditation, OM meditation, or audio listening (control), and take part in daily practice for 5 days.

Come to the research center for testing three times.

Keep a daily log of how they engage with the training.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Active Control; Focused-attention Meditatioin; Open-monitoring Meditation
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Focused-attention meditation; Behavioral: Open-monitoring meditation; Behavioral: Audio-listening control

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 112
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Zhejiang
    • Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 310030
      • Westlake University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Currently enrolled graduate students (Master's or PhD) or other research personnel (e.g., postdoctoral fellows, research assistants, or academic researchers).
• Aged 18 years or older and under 65 years.
• No current diagnosis of severe mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder).
• Not currently taking mood-stabilizing medication (e.g., SSRIs), to avoid confounding effects on mindfulness training and EEG outcomes

Exclusion Criteria:

• Simultaneously participating in other mindfulness-based psychological intervention programs or courses that cannot be paused during the study period.
• Suicidal ideation or planning reported within the past two weeks.
• Inability to attend in-person assessments at the laboratory site.
• Refusal or inability to provide informed consent.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Focused-attention group; Focused-attention training	Behavioral: Focused-attention meditation; This is a type of mindfulenss meditation, which instructes participants to keep focusing on own breathing with a sitting and rest posture.
Experimental: Open-monitoring group; Open-monitoring training	Behavioral: Open-monitoring meditation; This is a type of mindfulenss meditation, which instructs participants to stay aware of their vision with a sitting and rest posture.
Active Comparator: Control group; Listen to stories about creativity	Behavioral: Audio-listening control; Participants listen to stories about creativity with a sitting and rest posture.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Divergent thinking	Divergent thinking, a key component of creativity, will be assessed using the Alternative Uses Task (AUT). In this test, participants are asked to think of as many different uses as possible for a common object-like a brick, knife, or pillow-within a limited time. The scores including three factors: fluency, flexibility, and originality, which will be gained via TranDis, a semantic distance scoring system based on transformer-based language models.	Pre- and post- assessments after a 15-min training at Day1 (before 5-day practice), Day7 (after 5-day practice), and follow-up (1 month after 5-day practice).
Convergent thinking	Convergent thinking, a key component of creativity, will be measured by the Remote Associate Test (RAT). In this test, participants are given three words and must identify a fourth word that links all three.	Pre- and post- assessments after a 15-min training at Day1 (before 5-day practice), Day7 (after 5-day practice), and follow-up (1 month after 5-day practice).
EEG	Quantitative EEG power spectral density (PSD) across frequency bands (delta: 0.5-4 Hz, theta: 4-8 Hz, alpha: 8-13 Hz, beta: 13-30 Hz, gamma: >30 Hz) will be measured at Day 7 (post-intervention). Absolute and relative power in each band will be extracted from resting-state EEG (eyes closed), task-state EEG (15-min mindfulness or control), and task-state EEG during creativity tests, recorded at standardized scalp locations. Changes in spectral power will be used as indicators of neurophysiological responses to the mindfulness training.	During the whole tests at Day7 (after 5-day practice)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mindfulness	Mindfulness is assessed using the Philadelphia Mindfulness Scale (PHLMS). The PHLMS is a 20-item scale with two factors named Awareness and Acceptance. Participants will rate on a 5-point scale (1 = never, 5 = very often) according to the frequency that they experienced the described item within the past week. The score range for the PHLMS is 20 to 100.	Assessments at Day1 (before 5-day practice), Day7 (after 5-day practice), and follow-up (1 month after 5-day practice).
Metacognition	Cognitive Self-Consciousness (CSC), a subscale of the Metacognition Questionnaire (MCQ), will be used to assess participants' tendency to monitor and reflect upon their own thinking processes. The subscale includes 6 items. Participants rate statements such as "I am constantly aware of the way my mind works" on a 4-point scale (1 = do not agree, 5 = agree very much). The score range is 6 to 30.	At Day1 (before 5-day practice), Day7 (after 5-day practice), and follow-up (1 month after 5-day practice).
Attention	Sustained attention will be measured using the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART). The SART is a computerized test for the measurement of sustained attention and response inhibition. Participants' performance will be evaluated by the time of response and the correct rate.	Assessments at Day1 (before 5-day practice), Day7 (after 5-day practice).
Depression	Depression will be assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). The PHQ-9 is a 4-point scale (0 = Not at all, 3 = Nearly every day) with 9 items. The score range is 0 to 27.	Assessments at Day1 (before 5-day practice), Day7 (after 5-day practice), and follow-up (1 month after 5-day practice).
Anxiety	Anxiety will be measured using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scle (GAD-7). It is a 4-point scale (0 = Not at all, 3 = Nearly every day) with 7 items. The score range is 0 to 21.	Pre- and post- assessments after a 15-min training at Day1 (before 5-day practice), Day7 (after 5-day practice), and follow-up (1 month after 5-day practice).

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Engagement and practice times	Particpants will report their engagement after everyday practice by answering the question "On a scale from 0 to 10, how would you rate your level of engagement during today's practice? (0 = not engaged at all, frequent mind-wandering or drowsiness; 10 = highly engaged, focused and alert)"	Day 2 to Day 5 during the intervention, and 1 month after the 5-day practice period, for participants who engaged in follow-up practice.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Zhejiang University
• Collaborators: Westlake University; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 19, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 12, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): October 28, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 28, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): August 5, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 29, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: EEG; creativity; dismantling mindfulenss; focused-attention; open-monitoring
• Other Study ID Numbers: 20250401LR001; WU2024A001 (Other Grant/Funding Number: Dingheng Shipping Technology Co. Ltd.)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The following de-identified individual participant data will be shared: demographic information, assessment scores, and time points of data collection. No personally identifiable information will be included.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Beginning 1 year and ending 5 years after publication

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Criteria for data sharing:

Researchers must submit a scientific proposal describing the purpose and methods of the planned analyses. The analyses should be aligned with the original study objectives and must not attempt to identify individual participants. The proposal may be reviewed by the study team for scientific and ethical appropriateness.

Mechanism for data sharing:

Researchers need to submit a proposal and sign a data sharing agreement. Requests can be sent via email to the corresponding author. Approved researchers will receive access to the de-identified data through a secure transfer method.

• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP; ICF; ANALYTIC_CODE; CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No