Brain Mechanisms Supporting Meditation-based Analgesia
Condition: Pain
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      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.
    

Detailed description: 
      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.
    

Intervention name(s): Mindfulness Training; Book Listening Control
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): 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.; Study volunteers will listen to four 20 minute blocks of The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne throughout their interventions.
Other intervention name(s): mental training; mental training
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Healthy research participants, trained to psychophysically rate their experience in response to a range of thermal stimuli, will be randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups (mindfulness meditation n=20 or deep-breathing meditation n=20). After receiving four twenty-minute meditation training sessions, participants will return for a final session of thermal testing while lying in the MRI scanner. Participants will be exposed to 4 blocks of testing, using thermal stimuli cycled between painful (49°C) and non-painful (35°C) temperatures for 6 minutes. Blood oxygen-level dependent imaging will be used to map the functional connectivity of brain regions in response to the thermal fluctuations. In the first two blocks participants will lie quietly with eyes closed. After a 10 minute rest, subjects will begin meditating and the thermal testing will resume.
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Basic Science
Keywords: Pain; Mindfulness; Meditation; fMRI