Brain Mechanisms Supporting Meditation-based Analgesia

University of California, San Diego40 enrolled

Overview

Mindfulness meditation has been shown to reduce pain in experimental and clinical settings, and the neural mechanisms underlying this analgesia are distinct from that of placebo related beliefs in the utility of the meditation. Although previous studies have identified potential cortical and sub-cortical targets responsible for mediating these effects, the connectional relationships between them remains largely unexplored. The present study will use blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) neuroimaging to assess functional connections supporting mindfulness meditation.

Mindfulness meditation, significantly reduces pain in experimental and clinical settings. Although findings from this laboratory provide novel insights into some of the brain mechanisms supporting the modulation of pain by meditation , the specific analgesic mechanisms engaged during mindfulness meditation remain poorly characterized. To date, there are no studies that have identified the neurofunctional connections supporting mindfulness meditation-based pain relief. Employing fMRI, the objective of this study will be to determine the neural systems of action supporting mindfulness-based pain relief. The study will determine if higher order brain regions are involved in mindfulness-based analgesia. The results from this aim will identify a neural marker(s) for meditation-related pain relief, a critical step in defining how meditation reduces pain.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

BASIC_SCIENCE

Masking

TRIPLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Pain

Interventions

Mindfulness TrainingBEHAVIORAL

A well-validated brief mindfulness-based mental training regimen \[four sessions; 20 min/session\] will be used to teach patients to independently practice mindfulness meditation.

Book Listening ControlBEHAVIORAL

Study volunteers will listen to four 20 minute blocks of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne throughout their interventions.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsMax age: 65 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Normal volunteers between ages 18 and 65. * Men and women of all races will be included Exclusion Criteria: * Subjects with a history of psychiatric or neurological disorders. * Subjects will be excluded if they report being claustrophobic. * Subjects with a prior history of meditation training will be excluded. * Subjects with ferrous metal or electronic devices (e g., pacemakers) implanted in there body will be excluded. * Pregnant subjects will be excluded. * Subjects that demonstrate no pain to noxious temperatures (\>49°C) or excessive responses to temperatures at or below 43°C will be excluded.

Locations (1)

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signaling

Changes in blood oxygenation levels to thermally noxious stimuli (49°C) will be assessed, and planned comparisons will be performed between subjects trained in mindfulness meditation and those trained in deep-breathing meditation.

Time frame: Up to 3 weeks

Secondary Outcomes

Change in Visual Analog Scale Pain Ratings as a function of mindfulness-based mental training

The visual analog scale (VAS) measures pain ratings that will be assessed in response to noxious (49°C) thermal stimuli applied to the back of the right calf muscle. Pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings will be assessed with a Visual Analog Scale. The minimum rating ("0") is designated as "no pain" whereas the maximum ("10") is labeled as "most intense imaginable" or "most unpleasant imaginable". Higher values corresponded to higher perceived pain ratings. Baseline pain ratings will be assessed on session one and again at session six.

Time frame: Up to 3 weeks

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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