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Laura K. Case

2 papers in the library · 4 citations · publishing 2020-2025

Papers

Neural and molecular changes during a mind-body reconceptualization, meditation, and open label placebo healing intervention

Communications Biology November 6, 2025 Alex Jinich-Diamant, Sierra Simpson, Juan Pablo Zuniga-Hertz et al. 4 citations

A 7-day retreat combining meditation, reconceptualization, and open-label placebo healing rituals produced broad short-term neural and molecular changes in 20 healthy participants. Meditation reduced functional integration in the default mode and salience networks and decreased whole-brain modularity. Post-intervention plasma increased neurite outgrowth, enhanced glycolytic metabolism, and induced upregulation of BDNF, inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, and endogenous opioid pathways, while modulating tryptophan metabolism and neurotransmission-associated exosome miRNA transcripts. These changes suggest enhanced neuroplasticity, metabolic reprogramming, and modulation of functional cell signaling pathways, highlighting the potential of mind-body techniques to affect neural circuits and pathways important to health and well-being.

DOI: 10.1038/s42003-025-09088-3 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Meditation Default mode network Neuroplasticity Neurite +13

Neurophysiological Mechanisms Supporting Mindfulness Meditation-Based Pain Relief: an Updated Review.

Current Pain and Headache Reports August 17, 2020 Alex Jinich-Diamant, Eric L Garland, Jennifer Baumgartner et al.

Mindfulness meditation reduces pain through brain processes that differ from placebo and vary with meditative training. Neuroimaging and randomized controlled studies show that mindfulness-based therapies reliably lower both experimentally induced and clinical pain by engaging multiple, unique, non-opioidergic mechanisms. These effects occur across a spectrum of chronic pain conditions and involve psychological, physiological, and neural modulation of how sensory events are evaluated and appraised. The findings highlight the potential of mindfulness-based approaches for producing long-lasting improvements in pain-related symptoms.

DOI: 10.1007/s11916-020-00890-8 (opens in new tab) Full text (opens in new tab) Meditation Mindfulness Analgesia Pain