Neural regulation of pain anticipation is associated with mindful behavior change in patients with anxiety or depression: A pilot study.
Michael Datko, Jacqueline Lutz, Richa Gawande, Alexandra Comeau, Jenny Gan, My Ngoc To, Gaelle Desbordes, Todd Griswold, Jean A. King, Eric B Loucks, Vitaly Napadow, Zev Schuman-Olivier
Psychiatry Research Neuroimaging March 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2024.111941 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with anxiety and/or depression |
| Intervention | Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC) |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Behavior change Intervention Mood disorders Pain anticipation FMRI |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key findings | Greater post-mindfulness training increase in dorsal medial prefrontal cortex response to pain anticipation was associated with higher levels of health behavior change initiation. |
Abstract
Behavior change often requires overcoming discomfort or difficult emotions. Emotional dysregulation associated with anxiety or depression may prevent behavior change initiation among people managing chronic illness. Mindfulness training may catalyze chronic disease self-management by reducing experiential avoidance of aversive experiences that act as barriers to change initiation. Using a fMRI evoked pain task, we examined the effects of 8 weeks of Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC) on brain response to the anticipation of a noxious event (i.e., pain) among patients with anxiety and/or depression. We modeled the association between post-MTPC changes in brain response to pain anticipation and post-MTPC Action Plan Initiation (API), a measure of successful initiation of health behavior change. Greater post-MTPC increase in response to pain anticipation in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) was associated with higher levels of API (r=0.77, p<0.001). This increase in dmPFC response correlated with post-MTPC self-reported increase in emotion regulation skills related to goal-directed behaviors (r=-0.52, p=0.002). This suggests that mindfulness training increases the capacity to maintain goal-directed behavior in the face of aversive experiences by strengthening neural mechanisms of emotion- and self-regulation supporting successful health behavior change initiation in patients struggling with anxiety and/or depression.
Comparable studies
Other observational and cohort studies on anxiety, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Effectiveness of a meditation-based stress reduction program in the treatment of anxiety disorders Patients with generalized anxiety disorder or panic disorder with or without agoraphobia | 1992 | Observational cohort | n = 22 |
| Antidepressant effects of a single dose of ayahuasca in patients with recurrent depression: a preliminary report Patients with a depressive disorder | 2015 | Observational study | |
| Patterning of Cognitive and Somatic Processes in the Self-Regulation of Anxiety: Effects of Meditation versus Exercise Regular practitioners of physical exercise or meditation | 1978 | Retrospective study | n = 77 |
| Dynamic coupling of whole-brain neuronal and neurotransmitter systems Healthy humans | 2020 | Observational study | |
| Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study Randomly selected United States adults | 2015 | Observational cohort | n = 135,095 |
Citations in the library
Cites 16
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Cognitive-Affective Neural Plasticity following Active-Controlled Mindfulness Intervention Journal of Neuroscience October 31, 2012
- The Mindful Brain and Emotion Regulation in Mood Disorders The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry February 1, 2012
- Neural mechanisms of symptom improvements in generalized anxiety disorder following mindfulness training NeuroImage: Clinical 2013
- Impact of warm mindfulness on emotion regulation: A randomized controlled effectiveness trial. Health Psychology July 6, 2023
and 11 more in the library