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Let it be: mindful acceptance down-regulates pain and negative emotion
Hedy Kober1, Jason Buhle2, Jochen Weber2
1Departments of Psychiatry, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
|January 29, 2020
Summary
Mindful acceptance reduces pain and negative feelings by altering early brain responses, not by increasing cognitive control. This emotion regulation strategy offers potential for treating chronic pain and mood disorders.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychology
- Pain Management
Background:
- Mindfulness training improves depression and chronic pain.
- Its role in emotion regulation for non-meditators is understudied.
- Unclear if mindfulness down-regulates early affective brain processes or relies on cognitive control.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate mindfulness as an emotion regulation strategy in meditation-naïve individuals.
- Determine if mindful acceptance affects early affective brain responses.
- Assess the role of cognitive control systems in this process.
Main Methods:
- Exposed participants to negative images and painful heat stimuli.
- Instructed participants to either react naturally or use mindful acceptance.
- Measured self-report, amygdala, and pain system brain activity.
Main Results:
- Mindful acceptance reduced reported pain and negative affect.
- Decreased amygdala responses to negative images and pain system activity.
- No detectable increase in prefrontal control system activity.
Conclusions:
- Momentary mindful acceptance regulates emotional intensity by altering initial stimulus appraisals.
- This emotion regulation occurs without engaging cognitive control systems.
- Findings have implications for clinical treatments of pain and emotion regulation.
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