Cortical thickness and pain sensitivity in zen meditators.
Emotion (Washington, D.C.) February 1, 2010 Joshua A Grant, Jérôme Courtemanche, Emma G Duerden et al.
Zen meditators show lower pain sensitivity than non-meditators, and this difference is linked to thicker gray matter in brain regions that process pain, including the anterior cingulate cortex, parahippocampal gyrus, and anterior insula. In a structural MRI study of 17 meditators and 18 controls, meditators had thicker cortex in the dorsal anterior cingulate and secondary somatosensory cortex. More years of meditation experience predicted thicker gray matter in the anterior cingulate, and more hours of practice predicted thicker gray matter in somatosensory regions representing the lower leg and hand. The findings suggest that long-term meditation may alter brain structure, contributing to reduced pain sensitivity.