Disentangling self from pain: mindfulness meditation–induced pain relief is driven by thalamic–default mode network decoupling

Riegner, Gabriel; Posey, Grace; Oliva, Valéria Nobre Leal de Souza; Jung, Youngkyoo; Mobley, William C.; Zeidan, Fadel

doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002731

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The areas in which activity changes were observed in the study are similar to the study of Lutz et al [9], Harrison et al [10], Zeidan et al [11] and Wang et al [41]. Precuneus refers to the ''awareness of one's self and the surrounding sensory environment''; pain increases with its activation [43,44]. ''Awareness of breath'' through ''Focus Attention'' may explain the decreased activation of precuneus and improvement of pain parameters.…”

Section: Pain Mindfulness and Fmrisupporting

confidence: 85%

“…In a study, people who were applied painful stimuli and practiced mindfulness meditation (Focus Attention) had significantly decreased pain intensity and pain unpleasantness compared to the control group (reading an audiobook). The improvement in pain parameters was accompanied by decreased connectivity between the contralateral thalamus and precuneus and decreased activation of the ventromedial PFC, amygdala, and hippocampus [43]. The areas in which activity changes were observed in the study are similar to the study of Lutz et al [9], Harrison et al [10], Zeidan et al [11] and Wang et al [41].…”

Section: Pain Mindfulness and Fmrisupporting

confidence: 82%

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The mechanism of mindfulness meditation on pain by functional magnetic resonance imaging method

Yıldız

Kocahan

ÇELENLİOĞLU

et al. 2023

The European Research Journal

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Pain is a subjective feeling having sensory, cognitive and emotional components. Brain regions that cognitively and affectively contribute to pain sensation are the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), insula, prefontal cortex (PFC) and the default mode network (DMN). Depression and anxiety may accompany pain and they may exaggerate the pain via cognitive and affective disturbance. As a complementary treatment of pain, mindfulness meditation which is a therapeutic technique may be described as “non-judgmental awareness of the present moment”. Mindfulness meditation aims to focus on the experiences of bodily sensations and breathing in a non-judgmental and accepting manner. The functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is one of the tools that can explain the mechanism of action of mindfulness meditation on pain intensity, pain unpleasantness and the cognitive and affective disorders which accompanying pain. This study compiles studies examining the mechanism of action of mindfulness meditation on pain and pain accompanying pain unpleasantness, depression, anxiety with fMRI.

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Section: Pain Mindfulness and Fmrisupporting

confidence: 85%

Section: Pain Mindfulness and Fmrisupporting

confidence: 82%

The mechanism of mindfulness meditation on pain by functional magnetic resonance imaging method

Yıldız

Kocahan

ÇELENLİOĞLU

et al. 2023

The European Research Journal

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“…These data suggest that therapies/interventions that target the precuneus may be uniquely efficacious in the cultivation of empathetic response. To this extent, therapies like mindfulness-based mental training and/or psychedelics increase empathy-compassion (Laneri et al, 2017; Ashar et al, 2021; Domínguez-Clavé et al, 2022; Zheng et al, 2023) and also modulate posterior aspects of the default mode network (precuneus) (Brewer et al, 2011; Palhano-Fontes et al, 2015; Doss et al, 2022; Riegner et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

WITHDRAWN: I feel your pain: Higher empathy is associated with higher posterior default mode network activity

Oliva

Riegner

Dean

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Empathy is characterized as the ability to share ones experience. Recent findings indicate that the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) and insular cortices play a role in empathy. For example, insular lesions lead to less empathetic behaviors. Further, neuroimaging studies revealed that viewing and/or mentalizing a romantic partner in pain produces higher aMCC and anterior insula activation. Said studies employed blood oxygen level dependent fMRI that may be less sensitive to comprehensively capture tonic empathetic responses to pain. Others have found that empathy for pain can elucidate self-other processing in pain-related brain regions (thalamus; somatosensory cortices). The present study investigated the differential neural empathetic responses elicited by viewing, in real-time, a female volunteers romantic partner (> 3 months) as compared to a stranger (laboratory technician) receive pain-evoking noxious heat during arterial spin labeling (ASL) fMRI acquisition. Based on prior work, we predicted that higher empathy would be associated with higher pain-related processing. Twenty-nine healthy females (mean age = 29 years) were administered a noxious heat series (ten, 8s 48C plateaus; 240 seconds; left forearm) during ASL fMRI (3T GE MR750). Female volunteers, during fMRI acquisition, then viewed, with an MRI-compatible mirror, a stranger (laboratory technician) and then her romantic partner receive the same heat series in the MRI room. Visual analog scale (VAS; 0 = not unpleasant to 10 = extremely unpleasant) ratings for empathy (0 = no pain to 10 = worst pain imaginable) were collected from all participants after each scan. As predicted, female volunteers reported 33% higher empathy while viewing their romantic partner receive noxious heat as compared to the stranger (p = 0.01). Higher empathy ratings for the romantic partner, as compared to the stranger, were associated with greater activation in the dorsoposterior precuneus and the visual cortex. The present findings are the first to demonstrate that perfusion fMRI can be used to reliably capture empathetic processes and revealed novel insights in the role of the precuneus, a central node of the default mode network, in empathy and suggest that self-embodiment the experience of another is associated with higher empathy.

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“…They discuss and mention their pain more frequently, which unintentionally increases the patient's attention to pain, which is not conducive to pain relief (Silvestrini & Corradi‐Dell'Acqua, 2023). Therefore, when constructing an effective model of family functioning for patients with NP, combining this with intervention programs that target pain concerns, such as distraction (Kim et al, 2022) or mindfulness‐based approaches (Riegner et al, 2023), maybe more advantageous. In addition, consistent with previous findings, the more severe the pain in patients with NP, the more severe the self‐perceived burden and pain catastrophizing (Akbari et al, 2016; Dinan et al, 2021; Kowal et al, 2012; Wilson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pain intensity and self‐perceived burden mediate the relationship between family functioning and pain catastrophizing in patients with neuropathic pain

Fang,

Liu,

et al. 2024

Nursing & Health Sciences

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This cross‐sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between family functioning, pain intensity, self‐perceived burden, and pain catastrophizing. Moreover, we also wanted to explore the multiple mediating roles of pain intensity and self‐perceived burden. From October 2022 to March 2023, 252 Chinese people with neuropathic pain completed face‐to‐face questionnaires to assess family functioning, pain intensity, self‐perceived burden, and pain catastrophizing. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and a structural equation model. The results showed better family functioning was significantly associated with more intense pain, less self‐perceived burden, and less pain catastrophizing. Mediation analysis showed that family functioning could indirectly affect pain catastrophizing through pain intensity and self‐perceived burden in addition to a direct effect on pain catastrophizing. Moreover, the mediating variable of pain intensity played a masking role. These findings suggest that good family functioning can effectively reduce the self‐perceived burden and pain catastrophizing in patients with neuropathic pain. However, family functioning cannot show its maximum effectiveness, and it may be necessary to construct a model of family functioning suitable for patients with neuropathic pain in the future.

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Disentangling self from pain: mindfulness meditation–induced pain relief is driven by thalamic–default mode network decoupling

Abstract: Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text.These findings indicate that mindfulness meditation engages a unique self-referential nociceptive filtering mechanism to reduce the elaboration of pain.

Cited by 18 publications

References 55 publications

The mechanism of mindfulness meditation on pain by functional magnetic resonance imaging method

The mechanism of mindfulness meditation on pain by functional magnetic resonance imaging method

WITHDRAWN: I feel your pain: Higher empathy is associated with higher posterior default mode network activity

Pain intensity and self‐perceived burden mediate the relationship between family functioning and pain catastrophizing in patients with neuropathic pain

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