A specific method of meditation may temporarily boost visuospatial abilities, the ability to retain an image in visual memory for a long time, according to a new study.

The study suggests that the meditation allows practitioners to access a heightened state of visual-spatial awareness that lasts for a limited period of time.

A team of researchers, led by psychologist Maria Kozhevnikov of George Mason University, investigated the effects of different styles of Buddhist meditation on visuospatial skills.

The researchers focused on two styles of meditation: Deity Yoga (DY) and Open Presence (OP).

During DY meditation, the practitioner focuses intently on an image of deity and his or her entourage. This requires coming up with an immensely detailed, three-dimensional image of the deity, and also focusing on the deity's emotions and environment.

On the other hand, practitioners of OP meditation believe that pure awareness cannot be achieved by focusing on a specific image and therefore, they attempt to evenly distribute their attention while meditating, without dwelling on or analysing any experiences, images, or thoughts that may arise.

In these experiments, experienced DY or OP meditation practitioners along with nonmeditators participated in two types of visuospatial tasks, testing mental rotation abilities (e.g., being able to mentally rotate a 3-D structure) and visual memory (e.g., being shown an image, retaining it in memory and then having to identify it among a number of other, related images).