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The researchers then hooked up participants to an electroencephalograph and gave them something called the Stroop test.

In the test, participants were shown the name of a colour written in letters of a different colour - for instance, the word "red" spelled in green letters. Participants are asked to say the colour of the letters. The test requires them to suppress the tendency to read the word, and instead to concentrate on actual colours.

Psychologists then studied Error Related Negativity (ERN) among the participants. ERN is an electrical signal that shows up in the brain within 100 ms of an error being committed, well before our conscious minds are aware of the error. 

"It's kind of like an 'uh-oh' response, or a cortical alarm bell," said Rimma Teper, psychologist at the University of Toronto Scarborough, in a statement.

Meditators were generally better than non-meditators at the test, and also had generally stronger ERN responses. Psychologists believe that the ERN may have a motivational or affective component - in other words, it gives you a bad feeling about failing at a task and the feeling of failure may motivate you to do better. Because meditators are more aware of their feelings, they may pick up on that feeling more quickly and use it to improve their behaviour.

"Meditators are attuned to their emotions. They're also good at regulating their emotions. It fits well with our results," Teper said.