The findings, which appear in the April 6 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, aren’t entirely surprising. Past research has found that Buddhist-style meditation — also known as mindfulness meditation — can help people cope with pain, anxiety, and a number of other physical and mental health problems.
In the study, researchers mildly burned 15 men and women in a lab on two separate occasions, before and after the volunteers attended four 20-minute meditation training sessions over the course of four days. During the second go-round, when the participants were instructed to meditate, they rated the exact same pain stimulus — a 120-degree heat on their calves — as being 57 percent less unpleasant and 40 percent less intense, on average.[1]
Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D., lead author of the study and post-doctoral research fellow at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, believes that meditation has immense potential for clinical use because so little training was required to produce such pain-relieving effects.[2]
According to Health.com, Zeidan says, “Although the benefits of mindful meditation can be realized after long-term training, our study suggests that some effects can be realized just for your average Joe.”[3]
See also:Study: Meditation May Improve Psychological Well-Being
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