Pain-related encephalic regions influenced by yoga meditation: An integrative review.
Petra Jurisic, Daiana Cristina Salm, Cintia Vieira, Francisco José Cidral-Filho, Leidiane Mazzardo-Martins, Daniel Fernandes Martins
Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice May 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.04.001 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Integrative review Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Intervention | Yoga meditation practice |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Analgesia Brain Integrative medicine |
| Key findings | The authors report that yoga meditation practice induces analgesia primarily through attenuation of the medial pain perception system, including the anterior cingulate cortex and insula, and the lateral system, including the secondary sensory cortex and thalamus. They propose yoga-induced analgesia as a potentially important adjunct to current pain management and call for further research on the encephalic regions involved. |
Abstract
The mechanisms underlying the use of yoga in pain relief are still unclear. This study reviewed literature reports on encephalic activity related to analgesia induced by yoga meditation practice. This integrative review examined studies published in the Pubmed, LILACS and MEDLINE databases without restriction of the year of publication. The research involved 16 descriptors related to the words: yoga, pain and neuroimaging methods. Inclusion criteria involved only the publications available online, with free access and written in English. 2 case studies and 1 pilot study met the criteria. Yoga meditation practice induces analgesia primarily through attenuation of the medial pain perception system including the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Insula regions, as well as the lateral system including the Secondary Sensory Cortex and Thalamus. Yoga induced analgesia is a potentially important adjunct to current pain management. This integrative review revealed that there is a need for further research that analyzes the encephalic regions related to analgesia induced by yoga practice.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical populations | 2003 | Review | |
| Mindfulness: Theoretical Foundations and Evidence for its Salutary Effects | 2007 | Review | |
| Mindfulness Interventions | 2016 | Review | |
| Mind the Hype: A Critical Evaluation and Prescriptive Agenda for Research on Mindfulness and Meditation | 2017 | Review | |
| Mindfulness and acceptance: expanding the cognitive-behavioral tradition | 2005 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 8
- Meditation reduces pain-related neural activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, secondary somatosensory cortex, and thalamus Frontiers in Psychology December 16, 2014
- Meditative analgesia: the current state of the field. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2014
- Altered anterior insula activation during anticipation and experience of painful stimuli in expert meditators. Neuroimage 2013
- A non-elaborative mental stance and decoupling of executive and pain-related cortices predicts low pain sensitivity in Zen meditators. Pain 2011
- Long-term meditation is associated with increased gray matter density in the brain stem. Neuroreport January 28, 2009
and 3 more in the library