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Mindfulness meditation-related pain relief: Evidence for unique brain mechanisms in the regulation of pain
Open accessAbstract
The cognitive modulation of pain is influenced by a number of factors ranging from attention, beliefs, conditioning, expectations, mood, and the regulation of emotional responses to noxious sensory events. Recently, mindfulness meditation has been found attenuate pain through some of these mechanisms including enhanced cognitive and emotional control, as well as altering the contextual evaluation of sensory events. This review discusses the brain mechanisms involved in mindfulness meditation-related pain relief across different meditative techniques, expertise and training levels, experimental procedures, and neuroimaging methodologies. Converging lines of neuroimaging evidence reveal that mindfulness meditation-related pain relief is associated with unique appraisal cognitive processes depending on expertise level and meditation tradition. Moreover, it is postulated that mindfulness meditation-related pain relief may share a common final pathway with other cognitive techniques in the modulation of pain.
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“A growing body of literature has found that even brief mindfulness-based interventions can reduce reported levels of acute [Zeidan et al., 2012] and chronic pain [Ussher et al., 2014].”
From Acceptance and commitment therapy in youth with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and chronic pain and their parents: A pilot study of feasibility and preliminary efficacy (2016) · cites this paper as Zeidan et al., 2012
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“A study by Zeidan et al. outlined the detailed mechanisms behind mindfulness-based pain relief.[8]”
From Mindfulness influences the psycho-social dimension of chronic pain: A randomized controlled clinical trial in Indian context (2023) · cites this paper as [8]
In the citing paper
“demonstrating that mindfulness meditation significantly attenuates pain through multiple, unique mechanisms”
From Mindfulness meditation-based pain relief: a mechanistic account (2016) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“We postulated that mindfulness meditation attenuates pain through engagement of top-down (OFC to thalamus) inhibition of ascending nociceptive information.15, 20, 21, 23”
From Mindfulness meditation-based pain relief: a mechanistic account (2016) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“Furthermore, the aforementioned studies employed cross-sectional and/or case control designs, consequently limiting their generalizability because of the wide spectrum of potential between-group differences (e.g., demographics, demand characteristics, and meditative tradition) that may exist.15”
From Mindfulness meditation-based pain relief: a mechanistic account (2016) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“Nonspecific and potentially confounding variables, such as conditioning effects, psychosocial contexts, facilitator attention, intervention setting, body posture, and/or demand characteristics associated with the belief that one is practicing meditation,15, 27, 135 could mediate mindfulness meditation–related health improvements.136, 137”
From Mindfulness meditation-based pain relief: a mechanistic account (2016) · cites this paper as [15]
In the citing paper
“Yet, the utility of meditation for treating pain remains limited because of the assumption that the benefits of meditation require lengthy training regimens.15, 27”
From Mindfulness meditation-based pain relief: a mechanistic account (2016) · cites this paper as [15]
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Citations
Cites
The cognitive control of emotion
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Placebo-Induced Changes in fMRI in the Anticipation and Experience of Pain
Wager, T. D., Rilling, J. K., Smith, E. E., Sokolik, A., Casey, K. L., Davidson, R. J., Kosslyn, S. M., Rose, R. M., & Cohen, J. D. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1093065 · Cited by 1,992
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Cognitive and emotional control of pain and its disruption in chronic pain
Bushnell, M. C., Čeko, M., & Low, L. A. (2013) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3516 · Cited by 2,076
Mindfulness‐based interventions for obesity‐related eating behaviours: a literature review
O'Reilly, G. A., Cook, L., Spruijt‐Metz, D., & Black, D. S. (2014) · Obesity Reviews · doi:10.1111/obr.12156 · Cited by 547
Warren, J. M., Smith, N., & Ashwell, M. (2017) · Nutrition Research Reviews · doi:10.1017/s0954422417000154 · Cited by 435
Zeidan, F., Emerson, N. M., Farris, S. R., Ray, J. N., Jung, Y., McHaffie, J. G., & Coghill, R. C. (2015) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.2542-15.2015 · Cited by 369
Self-citationOptimal pain management for patients with cancer in the modern era
Scarborough, B. M., & Smith, C. B. (2018) · CA A Cancer Journal for Clinicians · doi:10.3322/caac.21453 · Cited by 367
Metadata
- Authors
- Zeidan, F., Grant, J. A., Brown, C. A., McHaffie, J. G., & Coghill, R. C.
- Affiliations
- Wake Forest University Health Sciences (US)
- Max Planck Society (DE)
- Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Zeidan, F.
- Venue
- Neuroscience Letters
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-06
- Volume
- 520
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 165-173
- ISSN
- 0304-3940 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC3580050
- OpenAlex
- W2064069127
- Cited by
- 284
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 2.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Neuroscience Letters (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS-39426, R01NS039426)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Keywords
- mindfulness meditation, analgesia, pain modulation, cognitive appraisal of pain, neural mechanisms, emotion regulation, attention
- MeSH terms
- Attention, Brain, Humans, Pain, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Meditation, Pain Management, Neuroimaging
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