A
research team from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center discovered that subjects
who practised mindfulness meditation had a 44 per cent greater pain relief than
placebo. Brain scans revealed that this form of meditation substantially
created various patterns of activity than those from placebo for pain
management.
Neurobiology
and anatomy assistant professor Dr Fadel Zeidan [pictured], lead investigator of the
study, said they were completely surprised by the results, as they
assumed some overlap in brain regions between meditation and placebo. ‘[The]
findings from this study provide novel and objective evidence that mindfulness
meditation reduces pain in a unique fashion,’ Zeidan said.
The
team analysed 75 healthy, pain-free individuals randomly assigned to
mindfulness meditation, placebo meditation, placebo analgesic cream, or
control. They used pain ratings and brain imaging to determine meditation
effects.
After
the introduction of pain on skin and brain scanning, the mindfulness meditation
group reported that emotional pain was reduced by 44 per cent and pain
intensity by 27 per cent. The morphine or placebo cream, on the other hand,
slashed emotional pain by 13 per cent and pain sensation by 11 per cent.
Past research indicated that the opioid morphine decreased physical pain by 22 per cent, which mindfulness outperformed in this new study published in the November 18, 2015 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
Mindfulness
meditation reduced pain through the activation of the orbitofrontal and
anterior cingulate cortex, two brain regions linked to self-regulation of pain.
Placebo cream, on the other hand, reduced pain via reducing brain activity in
areas that process pain, particularly the secondary somatosensory cortex.
Meditation
also deactivated the thalamus, which served as a pathway determining if sensory
details are allowed to reach higher brain centers. Zeidan explained that
shutting down this area caused pain signals to simply go away.
The
lead researcher said this is the first time mindfulness meditation emerged as ‘mechanistically
distinct and produces pain relief above and beyond the analgesic effects’
associated with placebo cream or pretend meditation.
Based
on the findings, as little as four 20-minute sessions of mindfulness meditation
every day could enhance treatment of pain. However, as the research focused on
healthy and pain-free participants, further studies need to be done to see
impacts on patients of chronic pain.
Journal article:
Zeidan F, Emerson NM, Farris SR, Ray JN,
Jung Y, McHaffie JG and Coghill RC. ‘Mindfulness Meditation-Based Pain Relief Employs Different Neural Mechanisms Than Placebo and Sham Mindfulness Meditation-Induced Analgesia.’ The Journal of Neuroscience, 18 November 2015, 35(46): 15307-15325; doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2542-15.2015
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