Virtual Reality–Guided Meditation for Chronic Pain in Patients With Cancer: Exploratory Analysis of Electroencephalograph Activity

In adults with chronic cancer pain, a virtual reality (VR)-guided meditation session produced detectable changes in brain electrical activity. Electroencephalograph (EEG) recordings showed increased beta and gamma wave power during meditation compared with before and after the session, along with changes in theta and alpha waves in frontal, central, and parietal brain regions. Coherence (synchronization) between frontal, parietal, and occipital areas also shifted. However, these brain changes were not associated with participants' pain scores. The findings demonstrate that VR-guided meditation alters neurophysiological signals but do not link those signals to pain reduction.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Background Mindfulness-based stress reduction has demonstrated some efficacy for chronic pain management. More recently, virtual reality (VR)–guided meditation has been used to assist mindfulness-based stress reduction. Although studies have also found electroencephalograph (EEG) changes in the brain during mindfulness meditation practices, such changes have not been demonstrated during VR-guided meditation. Objective This exploratory study is designed to explore the potential for recording and analyzing EEG during VR experiences in terms of the power of EEG waveforms, topographic mapping, and coherence. We examine how these measures changed during a VR-guided meditation experience in participants with cancer-related chronic pain. Methods A total of 10 adult patients with chronic cancer pain underwent a VR-guided meditation experience while EEG signals were recorded during the session using a BioSemi ActiveTwo system (64 channels, standard 10-20 configuration). The EEG recording session consisted of an 8-minute resting condition (pre), a 30-minute sequence of 3 VR-guided meditation conditions (med), and a final rest condition (post). Power spectral density (PSD) was compared between each condition using a cluster-based permutation test and across conditions using multivariate analysis of variance. A topographic analysis, including coherence exploration, was performed. In addition, an exploratory repeated measures correlation was used to examine possible associations between pain scores and EEG signal power. Results The predominant pattern was for increased β and γ bandwidth power in the meditation condition (P<.025), compared with both the baseline and postexperience conditions. Increased power in the  bandwidth was evident, although not statistically significant. The pre versus post comparison also showed changes in the θ and α bands (P=.02) located around the frontal, central, and parietal cortices. Across conditions, multivariate analysis of variance tests identified 4 clusters with significant (P<.05) PSD differences in the δ, θ, β, and γ bands located around the frontal, central, and parietal cortices. Topographically, 5 peak channels were identified: AF7, FP2, FC1, CP5, and P5, and verified the changes in power in the different brain regions. Coherence changes were observed primarily between the frontal, parietal, and occipital regions in the θ, α, and γ bands (P<.0025). No significant associations were observed between pain scores and EEG PSD. Conclusions This study demonstrates the feasibility of EEG recording in exploring neurophysiological changes in brain activity during VR-guided meditation and its effect on pain reduction. These findings suggest that distinct altered neurophysiological brain signals are detectable during VR-guided meditation. However, these changes were not necessarily associated with pain. These exploratory findings may guide further studies to investigate the highlighted regions and EEG bands with respect to VR-guided meditation. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00102401; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00102401