Mindfulness meditation is related to sensory ‐affective uncoupling of pain in trained novice and expert practitioners

ConclusionThese findings suggest that mindfulness meditation specifically down ‐regulates pain affect as opposed to pain intensity, and that pain catastrophizing undermines sensory‐affective uncoupling of pain.SignificanceIn this study, we found that a style of mindfulness meditation referred to as Open Monitoring reduced unpleasantness but not intensity ratings compared to attentional distraction in trained novice (state effect) and expert meditators (state and trait effects). We also observed that trait pain catastrophizing scores predicted this sensory ‐affective uncoupling. These findings advance our understanding of the cognitive mechanisms underlying mindfulness meditation and can inform treatment strategies for chronic pain.
Source: European Journal of Pain - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: ORIGINAL ARTICLE Source Type: research