Insular Cortex Mediates Increased Pain Tolerance in Yoga Practitioners

Villemure, Chantal; Čeko, Marta; Cotton, Valerie A.; Bushnell, M. Catherine

doi:10.1093/cercor/bht124

Cited by 115 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Yoga has been linked to anatomical changes in frontal cortex (Baijal and Srinivasan, 2010; Froeliger et al, 2012; Villemure et al, 2014; Desai et al, 2015), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula (Nakata et al, 2014; Villemure et al, 2014, 2015), and the hippocampus (Froeliger et al, 2012; Villemure et al, 2015). However, many of these studies compare the brains of practiced yogis with several months or years of experience to yoga-naive controls (Froeliger et al, 2012); perhaps the relatively shorter length of training in the current study (12 weeks) was less conducive to detecting structural plasticity associated with our yoga intervention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurochemical and Neuroanatomical Plasticity Following Memory Training and Yoga Interventions in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Yang

Leaver

Siddarth

et al. 2016

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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Behavioral interventions are becoming increasingly popular approaches to ameliorate age-related cognitive decline, but their underlying neurobiological mechanisms and clinical efficiency have not been fully elucidated. The present study explored brain plasticity associated with two behavioral interventions, memory enhancement training (MET) and a mind-body practice (yogic meditation), in healthy seniors with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using structural magnetic resonance imaging (s-MRI) and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS). Senior participants (age ≥55 years) with MCI were randomized to the MET or yogic meditation interventions. For both interventions, participants completed either MET training or Kundalini Yoga (KY) for 60-min sessions over 12 weeks, with 12-min daily homework assignments. Gray matter volume and metabolite concentrations in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and bilateral hippocampus were measured by structural MRI and 1H-MRS at baseline and after 12 weeks of training. Metabolites measured included glutamate-glutamine (Glx), choline-containing compounds (Cho, including glycerophosphocholine and phosphocholine), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and N-acetyl aspartate and N-acetylaspartyl-glutamate (NAA-NAAG). In total, 11 participants completed MET and 14 completed yogic meditation for this study. Structural MRI analysis showed an interaction between time and group in dACC, indicating a trend towards increased gray matter volume after the MET intervention. 1H-MRS analysis showed an interaction between time and group in choline-containing compounds in bilateral hippocampus, induced by significant decreases after the MET intervention. Though preliminary, our results suggest that memory training induces structural and neurochemical plasticity in seniors with MCI. Further research is needed to determine whether mind-body interventions like yoga yield similar neuroplastic changes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurochemical and Neuroanatomical Plasticity Following Memory Training and Yoga Interventions in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Yang

Leaver

Siddarth

et al. 2016

Front. Aging Neurosci.

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“…Neuroscience studies of mind-body practices show beneficial changes in the brain [75,76]. The neurological effect of mind-body practices demonstrates the brain’s profound ability to change itself through experience.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mind-Body Practices in Cancer Care

et al. 2014

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Being diagnosed with a life threatening disease such as cancer and undergoing treatment can cause unwanted distress and interferes with quality of life. Uncontrolled stress can have a negative effect on a number of biological systems and processes leading to negative health outcomes. While some distress is normal, it is not benign and must be addressed, as failure to do so may compromise health and QOL outcomes. We present the evidence for the role of stress in cancer biology and mechanisms demonstrating how distress is associated with worse clinical outcomes. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network states that all patients be screened with the single-item Distress Thermometer and to also indicate the source of distress and to get appropriate referral. In addition to the many conventional approaches for managing distress from the fields of psychology and psychiatry, many patients are seeking strategies to manage their distress that are outside conventional medicine such as mind-body techniques. Mind-body techniques such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, and qigong have been found to lower distress and lead to improvements in different aspects of quality of life. It is essential that the standard of care in oncology include distress screening and the delivery of different techniques to help patients manage the psychosocial challenges of diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

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“…In the study on serotonin and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), following 12 weeks (3 times/week) of yoga, those with low back pain showed not only increased back flexibility but also increased serotonin and serum BDNF [93]. In the magnetic resonance imaging study, yogis tolerated pain more than twice as long as individually matched controls and had more gray matter in many brain regions [94].…”

Section: Potential Underlying Mechanisms For Pain Reduction Followingmentioning

confidence: 99%