Mindfulness Meditation-Based Pain Relief Employs Different Neural Mechanisms Than Placebo and Sham Mindfulness Meditation-Induced Analgesia

Autor: Suzan R. Farris, Youngkyoo Jung, John G. McHaffie, Robert C. Coghill, Jenna Ray, Nichole M. Emerson, Fadel Zeidan
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Male
Mindfulness
Image Processing
Medical and Health Sciences
Computer-Assisted
psychophysics
Image Processing
Computer-Assisted

Meditation
media_common
Pain Measurement
Brain Mapping
General Neuroscience
Respiration
fMRI
Pain Research
Brain
Articles
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
medicine.anatomical_structure
Neurological
Regression Analysis
Female
Chronic Pain
Psychology
Clinical psychology
Adult
Pain Threshold
medicine.medical_specialty
media_common.quotation_subject
Clinical Trials and Supportive Activities
Analgesic
Pain
Context (language use)
Placebo
Insular cortex
Basic Behavioral and Social Science
Young Adult
mindfulness meditation
Physical medicine and rehabilitation
Clinical Research
Physical Stimulation
Behavioral and Social Science
Complementary and Integrative Health
Threshold of pain
medicine
Psychophysics
Humans
Neurology & Neurosurgery
Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
Neurosciences
Placebo Effect
arterial spin labeling
Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Oxygen
placebo
Mind and Body
Zdroj: The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, vol 35, iss 46
Popis: Mindfulness meditation reduces pain in experimental and clinical settings. However, it remains unknown whether mindfulness meditation engages pain-relieving mechanisms other than those associated with the placebo effect (e.g., conditioning, psychosocial context, beliefs). To determine whether the analgesic mechanisms of mindfulness meditation are different from placebo, we randomly assigned 75 healthy, human volunteers to 4 d of the following: (1) mindfulness meditation, (2) placebo conditioning, (3) sham mindfulness meditation, or (4) book-listening control intervention. We assessed intervention efficacy using psychophysical evaluation of experimental pain and functional neuroimaging. Importantly, all cognitive manipulations (i.e., mindfulness meditation, placebo conditioning, sham mindfulness meditation) significantly attenuated pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings when compared to rest and the control condition (p< 0.05). Mindfulness meditation reduced pain intensity (p= 0.032) and pain unpleasantness (p< 0.001) ratings more than placebo analgesia. Mindfulness meditation also reduced pain intensity (p= 0.030) and pain unpleasantness (p= 0.043) ratings more than sham mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness-meditation-related pain relief was associated with greater activation in brain regions associated with the cognitive modulation of pain, including the orbitofrontal, subgenual anterior cingulate, and anterior insular cortex. In contrast, placebo analgesia was associated with activation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and deactivation of sensory processing regions (secondary somatosensory cortex). Sham mindfulness meditation-induced analgesia was not correlated with significant neural activity, but rather by greater reductions in respiration rate. This study is the first to demonstrate that mindfulness-related pain relief is mechanistically distinct from placebo analgesia. The elucidation of this distinction confirms the existence of multiple, cognitively driven, supraspinal mechanisms for pain modulation.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTRecent findings have demonstrated that mindfulness meditation significantly reduces pain. Given that the “gold standard” for evaluating the efficacy of behavioral interventions is based on appropriate placebo comparisons, it is imperative that we establish whether there is an effect supporting meditation-related pain relief above and beyond the effects of placebo. Here, we provide novel evidence demonstrating that mindfulness meditation produces greater pain relief and employs distinct neural mechanisms than placebo cream and sham mindfulness meditation. Specifically, mindfulness meditation-induced pain relief activated higher-order brain regions, including the orbitofrontal and cingulate cortices. In contrast, placebo analgesia was associated with decreased pain-related brain activation. These findings demonstrate that mindfulness meditation reduces pain through unique mechanisms and may foster greater acceptance of meditation as an adjunct pain therapy.
Databáze: OpenAIRE