Protocol for the Intensive Longitudinal Mindfulness study: A fully within-subject repeated sampling investigation of focused attention and open monitoring

Over the past two decades, research investigating the neural mechanisms of mindfulness has burgeoned. However, there remains an important need for detailed experimental data regarding how mindfulness training alters the brain and how such changes translate to influence psychological function and subjective experience. The Intensive Longitudinal Mindfulness (ILM) study addresses this gap in the literature, by providing a fully within subject, time-intensive EEG sampling of mindfulness practice. The focus of this paper is to provide the protocol for the ILM study as a resource for interested researchers. Across eight weeks of mindfulness training, participants completed up to 24 EEG recorded sessions (3x per week) of focused attention (FA) and open monitoring (OM), two theoretically distinct forms of mindfulness practice, using standardized audio-guided meditation practices. Following each 20-minute practice of FA and OM (totaling 40 minutes per training session), subjective meditation quality was assessed using a self-report questionnaire battery. Before and after the eight weeks of training, participants also completed a multi-session task battery to assess training related changes to cognitive and affective functioning. The ILM study aims to demonstrate the value of a well-controlled, within-subject time intensive longitudinal design, with the capability to track neural and self-report trajectories associated with different forms of mindfulness training and to link these important dimensions of analysis across time.