Let it be: mindful acceptance down-regulates pain and negative emotion.
Hedy Kober, Jason Buhle, Jochen Weber, Kevin N. Ochsner, Tor D Wager
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience November 1, 2019 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsz104 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Experimental functional neuroimaging study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Meditation-naïve participants |
| Intervention | Mindful acceptance |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Acceptance Emotion regulation FMRI Pain |
| Key findings | Mindful acceptance was associated with reductions in reported pain and negative affect, reduced amygdala responses to negative images, and reduced heat-evoked responses in medial and lateral pain systems, including a distributed neurologic signature sensitive and specific to experimentally induced pain. These changes occurred without detectable increases in prefrontal control systems. The authors argue that momentary mindful acceptance regulates emotional intensity by changing initial appraisals of stimuli's affective significance. |
Abstract
Mindfulness training ameliorates clinical and self-report measures of depression and chronic pain, but its use as an emotion regulation strategy-in individuals who do not meditate-remains understudied. As such, whether it (i) down-regulates early affective brain processes or (ii) depends on cognitive control systems remains unclear. We exposed meditation-naïve participants to two kinds of stimuli: negative vs. neutral images and painful vs. warm temperatures. On alternating blocks, we asked participants to either react naturally or exercise mindful acceptance. Emotion regulation using mindful acceptance was associated with reductions in reported pain and negative affect, reduced amygdala responses to negative images and reduced heat-evoked responses in medial and lateral pain systems. Critically, mindful acceptance significantly reduced activity in a distributed, a priori neurologic signature that is sensitive and specific to experimentally induced pain. In addition, these changes occurred in the absence of detectable increases in prefrontal control systems. The findings support the idea that momentary mindful acceptance regulates emotional intensity by changing initial appraisals of the affective significance of stimuli, which has consequences for clinical treatment of pain and emotion.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Cancer patients (clinical intervention study) | 2003 | Mixed methods: scale development, correlational, quasi-experimental, laboratory, experience-sampling, and clinical intervention study | |
| Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. | 2008 | Controlled laboratory experiment | |
| Mindfulness and mind-wandering: Finding convergence through opposing constructs. | 2012 | Two studies: correlational study and experimental study | |
| Mental Training Enhances Attentional Stability: Neural and Behavioral Evidence | 2009 | Experimental study | |
| Mindfulness meditation and substance use in an incarcerated population. Incarcerated population | 2006 | Quasi-experimental with treatment-as-usual control condition |
Citations in the library
Cited by 26
- Mindful attention promotes control of brain network dynamics for self-regulation and discontinues the past from the present Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 3, 2023
- The Two Arrows of Pain: Mechanisms of Pain Related to Meditation and Mental States of Aversion and Identification Mindfulness January 28, 2022
- Mechanism of Action of Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Pain Relief-A Systematic Review. Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine December 1, 2024
- Brain Network Organization During Mindful Acceptance of Emotions bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) April 1, 2020
- Oxytocin Modulation in Mindfulness-Based Pain Management for Chronic Pain. Life February 15, 2024
and 21 more in the library
Cites 27
- Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology Science and Practice 2004
- How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective Perspectives on Psychological Science October 14, 2011
- Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation Perspectives on Psychological Science October 10, 2017
- Meditation experience is associated with differences in default mode network activity and connectivity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 23, 2011
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression: Replication and Exploration of Differential Relapse Prevention Effects. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2004
and 22 more in the library