Transcendental Meditation Decreases Pain Response in Brain

One of Many Proven Medical Benefits of Meditation

A growing body of medical studies prove the health benefits of transcendental meditation.  Physicians studying the brain’s reaction to pain in meditators mapped a significant difference in their neurological response with the use of an MRI scanner.

Meditation transforms the perception of reality. It has multiple confirmed medical benefits. Photo courtesy of *The Boy From Cerrado at Flickr. Visit this talented young person’s Flickr page.

Study subjects had their fingers immersed in hot water (123.8º F or 51º C) as the MRI measured neural activity in the thalamus, cingulated cortex and prefrontal cortex regions of the brain.  The meditators showed a 40 - 50 percent lower response rate than the non-meditators, and when the non-meditators were later taught meditation techniques, their responses dropped by an equal amount.

The brain processes pain in a variety of locations that physicians refer to as the “pain matrix.”  Transcendental meditation apparently worked on three areas with regard to this study:

1. Resolving the physiological condition responsible for pain
2. Reducing anticipatory anxiety and stress reactivity that amplifies the experience of pain
3. Reducing the distress related to experiencing pain

The study had 12 experienced meditators with a mean average experience level of 31.3 years and 24 non-meditators who were interested in learning the technique but had only attended an introductory lecture.

First, the study compared the experienced meditators with the non-meditators (control group).  Then the control group was taught the technique and the comparison was run again after people in the control group had five months of practice meditating for 20 minutes per session twice a day.

All comparisons were made after a meditation session.  This is significant, because it eliminates the potential for distraction from pain as a possible operative factor.

Interestingly, both groups felt the same level of pain; that is, the sensation was equally rated by both the control group and experienced meditators.  However the physiological responses told a different story entirely.

The long-term meditators showed a 40 - 50 percent lower blood flow to the studied areas of the brain, and after the control group learned the technique, they also exhibited similar drop in the blood flow to the areas of the brain that control the experience of pain.

Even though the sensory experience of the pain was the same, the transcendental meditation technique was capable of reducing the distress caused by the sensation.  This is analogous to a flu shot being administered to an adult and a child.  The child often has a severe stress-related reaction while the adult does not, but the sensation is identical in both.

Further, the results echo other studies that have shown transcendental meditation to be effective for reducing headaches and backaches, decreasing pain during pregnancy and childbirth, a reduction of medical care use for chronic pain patients and reduced frequency of pain symptoms in industrial workers.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and was originally published August 21, 2006 in Neuroreport; 17(12): 1359 - 1363.  The title of the study is Neuroimaging of meditation’s effect on brain reactivity to pain, and was conducted by David W. Orme-Johnson, Robert H. Schneider, Young D. Son, Sanford Nidich and Zang-Hee Cho.

As a meditator with 18 years of experience, I can personally attest to the validity of these results.  I often suggest the method to friends and hope medical studies conducted by the nation’s leading medical investigation organization can be more convincing than I.  Otherwise, I suppose they can get used to the pain, but I’m not sure why that’s preferable.

If anyone out there can help me understand the reluctance of others to try meditation with its proven benefits, I’d love to hear from you.