Altered Neural Activity Associated with Mindfulness during Nociception: A Systematic Review of Functional MRI.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the neural activity associated with mindfulness-based alterations of pain perception.


METHODS
The Cochrane Central, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched on 2 February 2016. Titles, abstracts, and full-text articles were independently screened by two reviewers. Data were independently extracted from records that included topics of functional neuroimaging, pain, and mindfulness interventions.


RESULTS
The literature search produced 946 total records, of which five met the inclusion criteria. Records reported pain in terms of anticipation (n = 2), unpleasantness (n = 5), and intensity (n = 5), and how mindfulness conditions altered the neural activity during noxious stimulation accordingly.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the studies were inconsistent in relating pain components to neural activity, in general, mindfulness was able to reduce pain anticipation and unpleasantness ratings, as well as alter the corresponding neural activity. The major neural underpinnings of mindfulness-based pain reduction consisted of altered activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.
Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada. bilevice@myumanitoba.ca.
Elena
E
Bilevicius
Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada. Tiffany.Kolesar@umanitoba.ca.
Tiffany A
TA
Kolesar
Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada. Jennifer.Kornelsen@umanitoba.ca.|Department of Radiology, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada. Jennifer.Kornelsen@umanitoba.ca.|St. Boniface Hospital Research, Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6, Canada. Jennifer.Kornelsen@umanitoba.ca.
Jennifer
J
Kornelsen
functional MRI; mindfulness; nociception; pain; systematic review