Abstract
ObjectivesAccording to the core Buddhist psychology models of the “two arrows of pain” and “co-dependent origination,” pain is the resultant of bodily and mental factors, which can be regulated by meditation states and traits. Here we investigated how pain and the related aversion and identification (self-involvement) experiences are modulated by focused attention meditation (FAM), open monitoring meditation (OMM), and loving kindness meditation (LKM), as well as by meditation expertise.MethodsTheravada Buddhist long-term meditators were matched with a group of short-term meditators. Nociceptive electrical stimulation was administered during FAM, OMM, and LKM, and in a non-meditative rest condition. Experience reports of pain, aversion, and identification were collected in each trial.ResultsPain thresholds were higher in long-term meditators than in short-term meditators. In the short-term meditators, as compared to rest, pain was reduced in FAM and OMM, and aversion and identification in all meditation conditions. In the long-term meditators, pain was reduced only in LKM. Identification was reduced in the three forms of meditation, while aversion was not affected by meditation. Further analyses with a particular focus on long-term meditators showed that pain was predicted to increase with meditation expertise, aversion, and identification. Granger causality analysis revealed that aversion and pain, as well as aversion and identification, causally influenced each other; identification causally influenced pain. This pattern of results about the relationships between pain, aversion, and identification was largely overlapping in the group of short-term meditators.ConclusionsThe findings reveal mechanisms of pain in interaction with aversive and identification mental states, as well as their modulation by meditation states and traits. They also suggest that pain feeling is the resultant of coupling of sensory and mental factors, thus highlighting the relevance of the second arrow of pain and providing a clarification of the epistemological gap between sensory causation and mental state causation of pain, in terms of a co-production mechanism with multiple stages. In particular, the evidence about the causal influences of identification on pain highlights a self-related factor of relevance in pain experiences that can be modulated by mindfulness. The study also inspires new testable neuroscientific hypotheses, and sheds new light on core Buddhist psychology models, based on evidence from a controlled experimental setting and experience dimension reports by long-term meditators with enhanced mindfulness skills.
Highlights
We aimed to investigate the effects of three different forms of meditation on pain, aversion toward and identification with painful experience
Linear mixed model analysis revealed the effects of open monitoring meditation (OMM) and loving kindness meditation (LKM) on pain reduction, as contrasted to the nonmeditative Rest condition, only in the group of short-term meditators
As related to our study, Zorn and colleagues’ (Zorn et al, 2020) results suggest that novices can be successfully trained in OMM meditation and that this yields a different regulatory profile characterized by sensory-affective uncoupling, consistent with earlier work with expert practitioners (Perlman et al, 2010; see Abdoun et al, 2019)
Summary
The group of short-term meditation practitioners included 12 participants with meditation experience ranging between 50 and 250 h (mean expertise = 130 h) in secular mindfulness and/or Buddhist traditions emphasizing FAM, OMM, and LKM (6 females, mean age = 46 ± 12). The long-term meditators practiced FAM (Samatha), OMM (Vipassana), and LKM (Metta) meditation forms in a balanced way in this tradition, often in integrated sessions, including silent meditation retreats (at least 3 months per year) In this tradition, the monks, nuns, and novice practitioners typically practice 2 h per day with the monastery community, with a regular intensification of practice during retreats, with several meditation sittings during the 3 months Winter retreat. All experimental procedures were approved by the ethics committee of “Sapienza,” University of Rome, and were in accordance with the standards of the Declaration of Helsinki
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