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Veterans with Mild Cognitive Impairment Increase Proactive Cognitive Control after a Mindfulness Intervention: A Pilot Study

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 8, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Kathy Xie^1,2, Heera Kamaraj^1,2, Brenna Hagan^1,2, Grace Desmond⁴, Minzae Kim^1,2,3, Christine Lo Verde⁶, Meltem Karaca⁵, Brandon Frank^1,2, Andrew Budson^1,2,3, Katherine W Turk^1,2,3; ¹VA Boston Healthcare System, ²Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, ³Boston University School of Medicine, ⁴UMass Chan Medical School, ⁵Assumption University, ⁶Northeast Ohio Medical University

Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) may improve cognition in older adults by training conscious manipulation of attention processes to promote focused, non-judgmental awareness of the present moment. MBSR may enhance cognitive control in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In our pilot study, 19 older Veterans with MCI (Mage = 78.3) were randomized to a 10-week virtual MBSR intervention modified for older adults (MAVEN; N=8) or a waitlist control (N=11). Participants completed a modified AX-CPT paradigm at baseline and post- intervention. Participants saw a series of letters and had respond to ‘X’ only when preceded by ‘A’ (AX sequence) and withhold responses when ‘X’ followed a different letter (BX sequence) or when a different letter followed ‘A’ (AY sequence); AX, AY, and BY sequences were equally likely. We calculated A-cue bias (proactive control) and d’ (context sensitivity) signal detection metrics. We fit 2 (intervention) x 2 (time) mixed ANCOVAs controlling for age and education. We found a significant interaction for A-cue bias (p= 0.025): MAVEN participants increased in A-cue bias over time (p=0.017), while waitlist controls did not (p=0.508). For d’, a trending interaction (p=0.074) reflected increases in d’ in the MAVEN group over time (p=0.043) but not controls (p=0.717). These preliminary findings suggest that MBSR increases the use of proactive cognitive control in older adults with MCI, supporting its potential as a non-pharmacological intervention to improve executive function. Future research will analyze the electrophysiological correlates of these cognitive control changes.

Topic Area: ATTENTION: Development & aging