Brain Mechanisms Supporting Mindfulness Meditation-Induced Pain and Stress Relief

支持正念冥想引起的疼痛和压力缓解的大脑机制

• 批准号: 10752331
• 负责人: Jon Gregory Dean
• 金额: $ 6.95万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10752331
• 关键词: Absence of pain sensation; Affect; Affective; American; Amygdaloid structure; Anatomy; Anterior; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Area; Arousal; Attenuated; Awareness; Behavioral; Books; Brain; Brain region; Chronic stress; Clinical; Clinical Trials; Cognitive; Computational Technique; Data; Data Set; Development; Diagnosis; Emotional; Ethics; Event; Exhibits; Exposure to; Fostering; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Health; Human; Individual; Institution; Intervention; Knowledge; Laboratories; Machine Learning; Meditation; Mentors; Mentorship; Methods; Mindfulness Training; Neuroanatomy; Neurologic; Nociception; Pain; Pain Free; Pain intensity; Pain management; Participant; Pattern; Perfusion; Persons; Placebos; Procedures; Process; Prosencephalon; Psychophysics; Psychophysiology; Regulation; Research; Residual state; Scanning; Sensory; Series; Stimulus; Stress; Structure; System; Techniques; Testing; Time; Training; Training Activity; Training Technics; Visual; Work; analog; blood oxygen level dependent; career; career development; chronic pain; chronic pain patient; chronic painful condition; cingulate cortex; comorbidity; cost effective; economic impact; healthy volunteer; imaging study; insight; interest; mindfulness; mindfulness meditation; negative affect; neural; neuroimaging; neuromechanism; novel; pain reduction; pain relief; predictive signature; psychologic; response; skills; somatosensory; statistics; stress disorder; stress management; stress reduction

Project Summary Stress and chronic pain disorders are comorbid conditions wherein stress exacerbates pain. Mindfulness meditation, a non-opioidergic and self-regulatory technique that trains non-reactive awareness to arising sensory and affective events, reduces clinical and experimentally induced pain and stress. Our recently completed psychophysical and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study found that four, 20-minute sessions of mindfulness training in healthy participants reduced stress ( 39%, p = .023) and pain intensity ( 32%, p < .001) in response to noxious heat (49°C). Stress reductions also predicted lower pain intensity (p = .013). The perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC), a cognitive-affective brain area involved in reappraisal, and the amygdala, a key brain area involved in sensory and emotional processing, are associated with modulating pain and stress and share extensive anatomical connections. Our laboratory has demonstrated that increased pgACC activity underlies mindfulness-induced reductions in pain and anxiety in healthy individuals, while mindfulness-induced deactivation of the amygdala has been shown to correlate with pain and stress relief across separate studies. Despite these findings, no study has determined whether mindfulness meditation promotes stress relief and analgesia by modulating the pgACC and corresponding neural activity in and connectivity between nociceptive and negative affect-specific brain regions. To this end, we will analyze the blood-oxygen-level-dependent fMRI data corresponding to our behavioral findings to test the following hypotheses. We will first determine if higher pgACC (HYP1a) and lower amygdala (HYP1b) activity during mindfulness is associated with higher pain/stress relief. We will next determine if increased pgACC-amygdalar functional connectivity correlates with mindfulness-induced pain (HYP1c) and stress relief (HYP1d). Our preliminary analyses found that mindfulness-induced analgesia correlates with reductions in machine-learned, multivariate fMRI signatures sensitive and specific to nociception (neurologic pain signature; NPS, p = .03) and stimulus-induced negative affect (p = .01). We will similarly determine if reductions in negative affect brain responses correspond to stress relief (HYP2a). Finally, we will confirm if increased NPS- (HYP2b) and negative affect signature- (HYP2c) pgACC connectivity is associated with pain and/or stress relief. The proposed research and training will be accomplished under the mentorship of my Sponsor, Co- sponsors, and Co-Mentor, who are experts in fMRI clinical trials on pain, meditation, and/or stress. Activities include a) training in pain-evoking procedures and statistical and computational techniques, programming, and neuroanatomy for analysis of behavioral and fMRI data b) ethical interactions with individuals with chronic pain and stress, c) scientifically validated mindfulness training, and d) fostering career development strategies. The knowledge and skills gained will prepare me to successfully navigate a career as an independent cognitive neuroscientist identifying the brain mechanisms of novel treatments for pain and comorbid health ailments.

项目概要 压力和慢性疼痛障碍是共病，其中压力会加剧疼痛。正念 冥想，一种非阿片类药物和自我调节技术，可以训练非反应性意识的产生 感觉和情感事件，减少临床和实验引起的疼痛和压力。我们最近 已完成的心理物理和功能磁共振成像 (fMRI) 研究发现，四次 20 分钟 健康参与者的正念训练课程减少了压力（ 39%，p = .023）和疼痛强度（ 32%, p < .001) 对有害热量 (49°C) 的反应。压力减轻也预示着疼痛强度降低（p =.013）。膝周前扣带皮层 (pgACC)，一个参与认知情感的大脑区域 重新评估和杏仁核（参与感觉和情绪处理的关键大脑区域）相关 具有调节疼痛和压力的作用，并具有广泛的解剖学联系。我们实验室有 证明 pgACC 活性的增加是正念引起的疼痛和焦虑减轻的基础 健康个体，而正念引起的杏仁核失活已被证明与 不同研究中的疼痛和压力缓解。尽管有这些发现，但没有研究确定是否 正念冥想通过调节 pgACC 和相应的信号来促进压力缓解和镇痛 伤害性和负面影响特定大脑区域的神经活动和连接。为此， 我们将分析与我们的行为结果相对应的血氧水平依赖性功能磁共振成像数据来测试 以下假设。我们首先确定是否较高的 pgACC (HYP1a) 和较低的杏仁核 (HYP1b) 正念期间的活动与更高的疼痛/压力缓解有关。接下来我们将确定是否增加 pgACC-杏仁核功能连接与正念诱发的疼痛 (HYP1c) 和压力缓解相关 （HYP1d）。我们的初步分析发现，正念诱导的镇痛与疼痛的减少相关。 机器学习的多变量功能磁共振成像特征对伤害感受敏感且具有特异性（神经疼痛特征； NPS，p = .03）和刺激引起的负面影响（p = .01）。我们将类似地确定是否减少 负面影响的大脑反应对应于压力缓解（HYP2a）。最后，我们将确认是否增加 NPS- (HYP2b) 和负面情感特征 - (HYP2c) pgACC 连接与疼痛和/或压力相关 宽慰。拟议的研究和培训将在我的赞助商共同的指导下完成 赞助商和联合导师，他们是疼痛、冥想和/或压力方面的 fMRI 临床试验专家。活动 包括 a) 疼痛诱发程序、统计和计算技术、编程方面的培训，以及 用于分析行为和功能磁共振成像数据的神经解剖学 b) 与慢性疼痛患者的道德互动 和压力，c）经过科学验证的正念训练，以及 d）促进职业发展策略。这 获得的知识和技能将使我做好准备，以独立认知的方式成功地开展职业生涯 神经科学家确定了治疗疼痛和共存健康疾病的新疗法的大脑机制。