No added benefit of VR and neurofeedback-enhanced VR for trait mindfulness in long-term mindfulness training

Immersive virtual reality (VR) and neurofeedback (NF) are increasingly promoted to enhance mindfulness meditation, yet it remains unknown whether these externally engaging technologies confer lasting benefits for trait mindfulness over sustained practice. This longitudinal randomized controlled trial compared three conditions over a 4-week program (eight sessions) with a three-month follow-up: screen-based audio-guided mindfulness (Non-VR), mindfulness in an immersive VR environment (VR), and mindfulness in VR with real-time EEG neurofeedback (VR-NF). Ninety-four meditation-naïve participants completed the study. Trait mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, FFMQ) was assessed at six time points, EEG signal was recorded during all sessions, and subjective presence (Igroup Presence Questionnaire, IPQ) in VR was measured. Linear mixed models and Bayesian analysis revealed comparable FFMQ increases across all three groups, indicating that VR and VR-NF did not confer added behavioral benefit for trait mindfulness development. Higher IPQ presence scores showed a modest negative correlation with long-term FFMQ gains at three-month follow-up. Exploratory EEG analyses described a numerically steeper theta trajectory in the Non-VR group relative to the VR and VR-NF groups, whereas alpha trajectories were comparable across groups. However, because the two EEG systems were not equivalent across conditions and recordings were obtained from frontopolar sites, these patterns are descriptive only and cannot be interpreted as evidence of group differences. Taken together, these findings suggest that VR and VR-NF did not confer added benefit for trait mindfulness in long-term mindfulness training.