The Impact of Stand-Alone And Combined Brief Virtual Reality Induced Focused Mindfulness and TDCS on Attention

Attention is a critical component influencing various cognitive abilities, evident in neurodevelopmental conditions such as attention deficit disorders, as well as in the interference of daily distractions with other cognitive functions. This study investigates the effects of brief sessions of Virtual Reality Induced Focused Mindfulness, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), and their combination on attentional enhancement. A randomized controlled trial was conducted, comprising 84 participants distributed across five groups according to their intervention types, which included mindfulness or mind-wandering scenarios, active or sham tDCS, and a control group without any intervention. Participants’ attentional performance was assessed using the Sustained Attention Response Task (SART), comparing the effects across groups.