Neural regulation of pain anticipation is associated with mindful behavior change in patients with anxiety or depression: A pilot study.
Michael Datko, Jacqueline Lutz, Richa Gawande, Alexandra Comeau, Jenny Gan, My Ngoc To, Gaelle Desbordes, Todd Griswold, Jean King, Eric Loucks, Vitaly Napadow, Zev Schuman-Olivier
Psychiatry research. Neuroimaging March 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2024.111941 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractMindfulness training for primary care patients with anxiety or depression increased activity in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex when anticipating pain, and this brain change was strongly linked to initiating health behavior changes. Greater increases in this brain response correlated with higher levels of action plan initiation, suggesting that mindfulness strengthens emotion regulation and goal-directed behavior in the face of discomfort.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Observational cohort Pilot study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Patients with anxiety and/or depression |
| Intervention | Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC) |
| Duration | 8-week intervention |
| Topics | Anxiety Depression Meditation |
| Keywords | Behavior change Intervention |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Greater post-mindfulness training increase in dorsal medial prefrontal cortex response to pain anticipation was associated with higher levels of health behavior change initiation. |
Abstract
Behavior change often requires overcoming discomfort or difficult emotions. Emotional dysregulation associated with anxiety or depression may prevent behavior change initiation among people managing chronic illness. Mindfulness training may catalyze chronic disease self-management by reducing experiential avoidance of aversive experiences that act as barriers to change initiation. Using a fMRI evoked pain task, we examined the effects of 8 weeks of Mindfulness Training for Primary Care (MTPC) on brain response to the anticipation of a noxious event (i.e., pain) among patients with anxiety and/or depression. We modeled the association between post-MTPC changes in brain response to pain anticipation and post-MTPC Action Plan Initiation (API), a measure of successful initiation of health behavior change. Greater post-MTPC increase in response to pain anticipation in the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) was associated with higher levels of API (r=0.77, p<0.001). This increase in dmPFC response correlated with post-MTPC self-reported increase in emotion regulation skills related to goal-directed behaviors (r=-0.52, p=0.002). This suggests that mindfulness training increases the capacity to maintain goal-directed behavior in the face of aversive experiences by strengthening neural mechanisms of emotion- and self-regulation supporting successful health behavior change initiation in patients struggling with anxiety and/or depression.