雅思阅读 74: Mindfulness and the Science of Attention（正念冥想与注意力科学）

改编自 American Psychiatric Association / Frontiers in Human Neuroscience（2024-2026）。雅思阅读 Section 3 难度，约 1050 词。 素材来源：https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/mindfulness-as-a-performance-tool

Reading Passage

A. In an age that demands high performance at every hour, mindfulness has migrated from a niche wellness practice into a respected tool for sharpening the mind. Once associated chiefly with meditation retreats and relaxation, it is now studied by neuroscientists as a disciplined way of training attention. At its core, mindfulness means intentionally anchoring awareness in the present moment while observing passing thoughts without judging them as good or bad. Elite performers — athletes, surgeons, pilots — have begun to adopt it not because it makes them passive, but because it appears to strengthen the very systems that govern focus under pressure. Crucially, researchers insist, mindfulness is not simply about feeling calm. Its most measurable effects lie in attention, emotional regulation and cognitive efficiency: the ability to remain engaged with a task rather than drifting off into planning, worry or distraction. This reframing matters. A practice once dismissed as a soft lifestyle accessory is now being tested in randomised trials, with electrodes and scanners, to establish exactly what it changes in the brain, and for whom those changes are most likely to occur. Its journey from the meditation hall to the laboratory mirrors a broader shift: techniques that were once embedded in contemplative traditions have been stripped of their spiritual framing and rebuilt as secular tools for cognitive performance, a translation that critics warn can lose something in the process.

B. The brain basis begins with executive control. A recent randomised trial found that even short periods of mindfulness training strengthened the functional links between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex — the region that supports planning and self-control — and the broader frontoparietal networks responsible for attention and regulation. A systematic review of neurobiological studies concluded that the practice induces "neuroplasticity", thickens parts of the cortex, calms the amygdala and improves connectivity across brain regions. A thicker prefrontal cortex is associated with sharper executive functioning, while a less reactive amygdala means the brain responds more mildly to stress. These are not vague claims about feeling better; they describe measurable changes in tissue and circuitry. Critics caution that many early studies were small and used relatively inexperienced meditators, so the size and permanence of such changes remain debated, and it is unclear how long any benefit survives once practice stops. Nevertheless, the direction of travel is consistent: repeated practice seems to reinforce the neural architecture of control rather than merely producing a temporary sense of relaxation that evaporates the moment the session ends.

C. The most immediate benefit appears to be attentional control. Mindfulness reduces activity in brain regions linked to mind-wandering and rumination, while enhancing communication with executive networks, so that people stay locked onto what they are doing — whether sitting an examination or executing a dive. Studies of long-term practitioners add detail: experienced meditators spend more time in brain states characterised by synchronised sensory processing, and less time in a frontal state tied to abstract thought. Electroencephalogram experiments back this up. After a brief mindfulness session, meditation-naïve participants showed a larger rise in the P3b signal, an electrical marker of attention, than a control group — and those who began with the most severe inattention symptoms improved the most. Other work reports gains in sustained attention, the orienting of attention and a reduction in the "attentional blink", the brief window in which a second target goes unseen because the first has just consumed the mind's limited resources.

D. A second strand is emotional regulation. People who practise regularly develop the capacity to watch their internal experiences arise and pass without being swept away by them, a skill that translates into steadier nerves and clearer thinking in high-stakes moments. Underlying this are physiological shifts: mindfulness is associated with higher levels of the calming neurotransmitters GABA and serotonin, and with a measurable drop in cortisol, the body's main stress hormone. Lower cortisol supports recovery and sustained performance rather than the exhausted, over-aroused state that chronic pressure produces. Yet researchers are careful not to oversell the practice. Performance, they note, requires a certain level of arousal; a completely calm athlete would be a useless one. Mindfulness does not switch stress off. Instead it appears to alter the brain's relationship with stress, letting practitioners regulate their attention and emotional responses rather than being ruled by them. The goal is not tranquillity for its own sake but flexible control over where the mind goes next. In demanding professions — surgery, air-traffic control, military operations — this distinction is decisive: a practitioner who remains alert but unflappable performs better than one who is either over-aroused or detached. Studies in such settings have found that regular meditators recover more quickly from startle responses and show less drift in sustained vigilance tasks, effects that accumulate slowly over months rather than appearing after a single afternoon.

E. Translated into daily life, these findings suggest modest, repeatable habits rather than gruelling retreats. Physicians and coaches recommend a "two-minute reset": pausing to attend to the breath in order to clear mental clutter. Focused-attention training — holding the mind on a single point and gently returning it whenever it wanders — directly exercises the same muscle that the scanning studies describe. Before a high-pressure event, grounding oneself in physical sensations and slow breathing stabilises physiology and restores clarity. Even "mindfulness snacks", small acts of staying present while walking or listening, may accumulate over time. Important caveats remain. Benefits vary with the individual, those starting with the greatest attention deficits often gain the most, and a few weeks of casual practice will not rewire the brain the way years of disciplined meditation can. Treated as a trainable skill rather than a cure, however, mindfulness offers a rare example of an ancient contemplative practice that modern neuroscience has begun to map, measure and put to practical use.

Questions 1-4

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B, C, D and E from the list of headings below.

List of Headings i. How mindfulness reshapes the control centres of the brain ii. Whether mindfulness can replace all other stress treatments iii. Evidence that attention itself can be trained iv. Emotional control and the stress hormone v. Small habits, real limits — putting it into practice vi. The origins of meditation in ancient religious texts vii. Why elite athletes refuse to practise mindfulness

1. Paragraph B: ____
2. Paragraph C: ____
3. Paragraph D: ____
4. Paragraph E: ____

Questions 5-8

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

5. How is mindfulness primarily defined in the passage? A. A technique for removing every trace of stress B. Intentionally anchoring attention in the present moment, without judgement C. A short form of psychotherapy for anxiety D. A medication designed to calm the nervous system

6. What did the systematic review conclude about long-term changes? A. It found no change in cortical thickness B. It induces neuroplasticity, thickens the cortex and calms the amygdala C. It tends to shrink the prefrontal cortex over time D. It works only on monks who have meditated for decades

7. In the P3b attention experiment, which group improved the most? A. Those with the strongest inattention symptoms in the mindfulness group B. Participants who had no prior attention problems C. Members of the control group D. Experienced long-term meditators

8. Why do researchers say mindfulness does not simply switch stress off? A. It actually raises cortisol to very high levels B. Performance requires some arousal; it regulates rather than removes stress C. Its effects vanish the moment a session ends D. It has no measurable effect on stress hormones

Questions 9-13

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer?

Write:

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

9. Mindfulness has moved from a wellness activity into a scientifically studied performance tool.
10. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is associated with executive control.
11. Most of the brain-imaging studies were conducted on Buddhist monks.
12. Mindfulness completely eliminates the body's stress response.
13. Participants with the most severe inattention symptoms tended to benefit most from brief training.

Questions 14-15

Complete the summary below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.

Regular mindfulness is linked to higher levels of the calming neurotransmitters GABA and (14) __________, and to a measurable drop in the stress hormone (15) __________.

答案与解析

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