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7.2- Brain Imaging Correlated to Meditation

The anterior insula is found within the lateral sulcus, a prominent fission separating the frontal lobe from the parietal lobe

The thalamus is a region of the brain responsible for pain evaluation, determining the intensity of what the individual feels when exposed to stimuli. MRIs taken of a brain exposed to mindful practices showed significant thalamic deactivation when compared to a control. Additionally, there was increased activation in the anterior cingulate cortex. The anterior cingulate cortex aids in impulse control. Considering pain requires an initial stimulus, it would make sense for activation in the ACC to be required to control the way pain is responded to. Interestingly enough, separate MRI imaging indicated further activation in the primary somatosensory cortex and anterior insula. While these findings are conflicting with the fact that separate studies showed a deactivation in these regions of the brain when associated higher pain tolerance, one similarity is that all imaging showed a deactivation in the thalamus . The pre-frontal cortex is another region of the brain strongly associated with pain. In one study done with individuals who practiced sustained meditation, deactivation in the pre-frontal cortex was caught on MRI imaging .

7.3- Pain Tolerance & Meditative Experience

Meditation has been associated with altered levels of activity in regions of the brain associated with pain perception. Regions of the brain that have been correlated to pain are the thalamus, pre-frontal cortex, somatosensory cortex, and insula. As a way of moving away from the potentially unfavorable side effects pharmaceuticals, clinical studies have been conducted to assess if meditation can be used as a sort of pain suppressant.

Before the first moments of experiencing pain, there is the anticipation of awaiting the stimuli. This anticipatory region of the brain is known as the insula which receives the input. Then the somatosensory cortex serves as a way of transmitting the nociceptive stimuli to the thalamus, which then evaluates the intensity of the pain. Studies show a key part of the pain experience is the anticipation right before it.

Thalamus is located in the dorsal part of the diencephalon. Diencephalon is a subdivision of the forebrain found between the telencephalon and the midbrain

Meditation gurus, particularly in the Buddhism, strongly believe there is a way to use meditation that allows the individual to receive the initial input (creating activity in the somatosensory cortex) while being able to block out the processing that comes from the thalamus. On that note, a study was conducted involving long term meditation practitioners and their responses to noxious thermal stimulation. The experiment was designed to test the long-term practitioners with a control group of non-practicing individuals that matched their age. The results concluded that much higher levels of stimulation were required for the practitioners to obtain a similar response as their control counterpart. Additionally, there were reportedly lower levels of activity found within the pre-frontal cortex of the practitioners, insinuating that not as much pain was being processed.

In a separate study also conducted with 14 meditation experts, their overall experience with pain stimuli was compared to a group of individuals who were told to practice mindfulness every day for 30 minutes for one week. The results concluded that, within the control group, minimal differences in activity levels were recorded in the brain. On the other hand, however, the practitioners had significantly lower levels of activity in the anterior insula, the anticipatory region of the brain. Clearly, there is a skewness in results from the varying studies, as these higher thresholds of pain tolerance have been found only within individuals that have dedicated decades to the art of meditation

7.4 - Meditation & Migraines

Chronic pain affects approximately 100 million Americans and can range from back pain to chronic migraines. Headaches and migraines, in particular, are suffered by millions of Americans and, with their causes usually being left unknown, result in mass production of pain killers. This, of course, leaves Americans with the potential for misuse. Meditation, however, has been tested to see if it has any difference on the intensity and frequency of migraines suffered by individuals. One study, for instance, conducted an experiment with over 300 subjects that suffered from primary headache and migraines. The experimental group consisted of individuals that were involved in a structured meditative class. The results concluded that the experimental group had significant improvement in pain intensity and headache frequency when compared to the controls.

7.5 - Gastrointestinal Conditions & Anxiety

Gastrointestinal conditions, while having adverse physical effects on the body, have been believed to be worsened when the individual is under severe stress. One condition in particular, Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), negatively impacts the quality of life in patients and disrupts the crucial balance of the microbiome. One study conducted with individuals that suffered from a form of GERD had the subjects practice mindful breathing exercises for 4 weeks, 30 minutes daily. Results indicated less esophageal exposure to stomach acids and those who continued the practice after the study even required less use of a proton pump. Due to GERD being so strongly associated with increased stress levels, there is the concern that mindful practices may be more inclined to provide results with these types of illness.

7.6 - Incentives behind Mindfulness as a Pain Killer

With these results in mind, there has been positive correlations made between mindful practices and pain reduction. Pain is rather conceptual and can be affected by both physical and cognitive variables that produce pain the same, but have it evaluated differently by the brain. As mentioned earlier, chronic pain affects millions of Americans. Thus, this makes a number citizens susceptible to opioid misuse. Over 50million Americans have died because of misuse of opioids, making it one of the biggest drug pandemics in the states.  This provides a clear incentive into looking into the potential options of meditation as a sort of pain suppressant.