By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“For some people with chronic pain, mindful meditation is an appealing pain management option because it has an unusual benefit; it is something that you personally control. Unlike pain medications or medical procedures, meditation is not done to you, it is something you can do for yourself.” – Stephanie Burke
Pain can be difficult to deal with, particularly if it’s persistent. But, even short-term pain, acute pain, is unpleasant. Pain, however, is an important signal that there is something wrong or that damage is occurring. This signals that some form of action is needed to mitigate the damage. This is an important signal that is ignored at the individual’s peril. So, in dealing with pain, it’s important that pain signals not be blocked or prevented. They need to be perceived. Nevertheless, it would be useful to find ways to lower the intensity of perceived pain and improve recovery from painful stimuli.
Pain signals are processed in the brain and the state of the brain can alter the perception of pain. Indeed, pain is affected by the mind. The perception of pain can be amplified by the emotional reactions to it and also by attempts to fight or counteract it. On the other hand, pain perception can also be reduced by mental states. Indeed, contemplative practices have been shown to reduce both chronic and acute pain. These changes are reflected in the underlying processing of the pain signals in the nervous system. This suggests that mindfulness training produces long-lasting alterations of the neural circuits underlying pain processing.
In today’s Research News article “Altered Neural Activity Associated with Mindfulness during Nociception: A Systematic Review of Functional MRI.” See:
or see summary below or view the full text of the study at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4931491/
Bilevicius and colleagues review the published research literature on the neural circuits involved in mindfulness’ alterations of perceived pain. In these studies, it was routinely reported that mindfulness produced a reduction in the anticipation of pain and pain unpleasantness. There were mixed findings in regard to whether the intensity of pain was reduced or not. Regardless, mindfulness appears to reduce unpleasantness without blocking the actual perception of pain.
They then looked at the reported effects of mindfulness training on brain activity as measured with functional Magnetic Resonance Imagery (fMRI). The published studies reported consistently that mindfulness training increased the activity of two key areas in pain processing, the Insula and the Anterior Cingulate Cortex in response to pain signals. On the other hand, mindfulness training produced decreased activity in response to pain in the Lateral Prefrontal Cortex. The ACC and the Insula are involved in processing stimuli originating in the present moment and their increased activity suggests that the mindfulness training altered the neural circuits involved in present moment awareness of pain signals. The Lateral Prefrontal Cortex, on the other hand, is associated with the awareness, cognitive processing, of pain. This suggests that mindfulness training produces a reduction in the thinking about pain.
These results suggest that mindfulness training produces lasting changes to the nervous system, sometimes called neuroplasticity. These changes altered the usual processing of pain signals. Although, the pain signals occurring in the present moment are heightened, they have less of an impact upon awareness and cognitive appreciation of pain. Mindfulness training, then appears to produce long-lasting changes in the brain that allow pain signals to be processed but reduce the psychological responses to pain, making it less unpleasant. The individual then can respond adaptively to the pain but not suffer as much.
So, alter the brain for better pain management with meditation.
“Imaging studies show that mindfulness soothes the brain patterns underlying pain and, over time, these changes take root and alter the structure of the brain itself, so that patients no longer feel pain with the same intensity. Many say that they barely notice it at all.” – Danny Penman
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
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Study Summary
Bilevicius, E., Kolesar, T. A., & Kornelsen, J. (2016). Altered Neural Activity Associated with Mindfulness during Nociception: A Systematic Review of Functional MRI. Brain Sciences, 6(2), 14. http://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci6020014
Abstract
Objective: To assess the neural activity associated with mindfulness-based alterations of pain perception. Methods: The Cochrane Central, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched on 2 February 2016. Titles, abstracts, and full-text articles were independently screened by two reviewers. Data were independently extracted from records that included topics of functional neuroimaging, pain, and mindfulness interventions. Results: The literature search produced 946 total records, of which five met the inclusion criteria. Records reported pain in terms of anticipation (n = 2), unpleasantness (n = 5), and intensity (n = 5), and how mindfulness conditions altered the neural activity during noxious stimulation accordingly. Conclusions: Although the studies were inconsistent in relating pain components to neural activity, in general, mindfulness was able to reduce pain anticipation and unpleasantness ratings, as well as alter the corresponding neural activity. The major neural underpinnings of mindfulness-based pain reduction consisted of altered activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4931491/
