While many benefits of a mindfulness practice has been ascribed in the literature and popculture, one of these have been pain perception. A study from the University of Wisconsin was able to capture from brain imaging how a mindfulness program changed the practitioner regulate pain.

For the study, the researchers utilized the popular Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. One group received the complete MBSR course including mindfulness-based practices such as “present-centered” mind-body awareness and non-attachments. The other group received a similar course without the mindfulness-based practice instructions.

After completing the course, participants under went brain scans while receiving controlled heat-based pain stimulus on their forearm with various pain-signatures in the brain recorded. The found that those who took the MBSR course showed reduction in a signature associated with sensory intensity of pain.

The published study also took their results a step further by exploring how longer-term mindfulness training effects pain. They found that in addition to what they saw with the beginners who took MBSR, those who have had a long-term practice also had changes in the brain that are indirectly related to pain such as attention and beliefs.

While it is not advised to just practice “mindfulness” as a pain killer, a mindfulness practice can be a great general practice to cultivate as a lifestyle. While MBSR classes seem to sprout up everywhere, look for a reputable one and you’ll find that this will be an indispensable practice.

The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

J Wielgosz et al. Neural signatures of pain modulation in short-term and long-term mindfulness training: A randomized active-control trial. American Journal of Psychiatry (2022). DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.21020145