Mindfulness trial reports partial thinking-skill gains in baseball players
A small randomized study measured cognitive tasks, brain oxygenation and blood markers; it did not report changes in baseball performance.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
In this abstract-based trial, mindfulness training produced partial improvements in working memory, inhibitory control and mental flexibility among baseball players. Brain oxygenation and blood-marker changes accompanied these results. The abstract does not give effect sizes or detailed between-group statistics, so it cannot show how large or consistent the cognitive gains were.
Only the abstract was available. It leaves the control activity, training schedule and size of the cognitive effects unclear; links between biological changes and task scores do not prove a mechanism.
What was tested
Players completed tasks assessing working memory, resistance to interference and switching between tasks before and after the intervention. Researchers also recorded oxygenation in the prefrontal cortex and measured circulating biological markers.
Biological links remain tentative
Oxygenation changes varied by task and brain region rather than moving uniformly upward. Cortisol and inflammatory-marker changes were correlated with cognitive changes, but those relationships cannot establish that the biological shifts caused better task performance.
The original publication
Effects of 12-week mindfulness-based intervention on executive functioning skills, brain oxygenation, and biomarkers of cognitive function in baseball players: a randomized controlled trial.
Chen W, Yang Y, He S et al.
Psychol Sport Exerc · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41577062
- Record checked
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