A 12-week moderate-intensity Tai Chi intervention reduces attentional bias scores in men with MUD more than moderate-intensity treadmill running¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i2 After 12 weeks, the Tai Chi group showed a significant decrease in attention bias scores with a moderate effect size compared with the control group. → Zhang 2026

Evidence¶

Zhang 2026¶

Zhang, L., Li, Y., Wang, L., Zhang, X., Sun, Y., He, S. & Zhu, W. (2026). Effects of Tai Chi on attentional bias in men with methamphetamine use disorder. npj Science of Learning. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-026-00426-6

q3 · i2 · causal · r2

Randomised controlled trial of 48 men with MUD assigned to Tai Chi (n=24) or treadmill-running control (n=24); ANCOVA on dot-probe attention bias scores adjusted for age, education, years of METH use and baseline values found "a moderate effect size" (ηp2 = 0.134).

"After 12 weeks of intervention, the Tai Chi group showed a significant decrease in attention bias scores with a moderate effect size compared with the control group (F = 6.023, p = 0.019, ηp2 = 0.134)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Attention — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Response accuracy on the dot-probe task is high and does not differ between Tai Chi and control groups — related
• Tai Chi better maintains prefrontal activation than treadmill running when the probe aligns with METH-related stimuli — related
• Tai Chi better maintains prefrontal oxy-Hb beta values than treadmill running during the dot-probe task in the neutral-congruent condition — related
• Both groups' prefrontal activation decreased after intervention, but the Tai Chi group declined to a lesser extent — related