Trait Mindfulness Is Associated With Lower Pain Reactivity and Connectivity of the Default Mode Network.
The journal of pain June 1, 2019 Richard Harrison, Fadel Zeidan, George Kitsaras et al.
Higher trait mindfulness—the tendency to be mindful without formal training—is linked to greater pain tolerance and less pain catastrophizing. In 40 healthy volunteers naive to meditation, those scoring higher on trait mindfulness showed higher pain thresholds and lower pain catastrophizing. Brain scans revealed that trait mindfulness was associated with reduced connectivity within the default mode network, a set of brain regions tied to self-focused thought and rumination, and increased connectivity between that network and somatosensory areas that process bodily sensations. These neural patterns mirror those seen after formal mindfulness training, suggesting that even without practice, natural variations in mindfulness help people cope with pain by shifting brain activity toward sensory experience and away from emotional elaboration.