| Reference code: | PT/FB/BL-2020-272.06 |
| Location: | BF-GMS
|
Title:
| EEG oscillations reveal neuroplastic changes in pain processing associated with long-term meditation
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| Publication year: | 2025
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URL:
| https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94223-7
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| Abstract/Results: | ABSTRACT:
The experience of pain is a combined product of bottom-up and top-down influences mediated by attentional and emotional factors. Meditation states and traits are characterized by enhanced attention/emotion regulation and expanded self-awareness that can be expected to modify pain processing. The main objective of the present study was to explore the effects of long-term meditation on neural mechanisms of pain processing. EEG pain-related oscillations (PROs) were analysed in highly experienced practitioners and novices during a non-meditative resting state with respect to (a) local frequency-specific and temporal synchronizing characteristics to reflect mainly bottom-up mechanisms, (b) spatial synchronizing patterns to reflect the neural communication of noxious information, (c) pre-stimulus oscillations to reflect top-down mechanisms during pain expectancy, and (d) the P3b component of the pain-related potential to compare the emotional/cognitive reappraisal of pain events by expert and novice meditators. Main results demonstrated that in experienced (long-term) meditators as compared to non-experienced (short-term) meditators (1) the temporal and spatial synchronizations of multispectral (from theta-alpha to gamma) PROs were substantially suppressed at primary and secondary somatosensory regions contra-lateral to pain stimulation within 200 ms after noxious stimulus; (2) pre-stimulus alpha activity was significantly increased at the same regions, which predicted the suppressed synchronization of PROs in long-term meditators; (3) the decrease of the P3b component was non-significant. These novel observations provide evidence that even when subjected to pain outside of meditation, experienced meditators exhibit a pro-active top-down inhibition of somatosensory areas resulting in suppressed processing and communication of sensory information at early stages of painful input. The emotional/cognitive appraisal of pain is reduced but remains preserved revealing a capacity of experienced meditators to dissociate pro-active and reactive top-down processes during pain control.
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| Accessibility: | Document exists in file
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Language:
| eng
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Author:
| Yordanova, J.
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Secondary author(s):
| Nicolardi, V., Malinowski, P., Simione, L., Aglioti, S. M., Raffone, A., Kolev, V.
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Document type:
| Article
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Number of reproductions:
| 3
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Percentiles:
| 0.00|0.00
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Reference:
| Yordanova, J., Nicolardi, V., Malinowski, P., Simione, L., Aglioti, S. M., Raffone, A., & Kolev, V. (2025). EEG oscillations reveal neuroplastic changes in pain processing associated with long-term meditation. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 10604. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-94223-7
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| 2-year Impact Factor: | 3.9|2024
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| Impact factor notes: | Impact factor not available yet for 2025
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| Times cited: | 0|2026-02-17
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| Indexed document: | Yes
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| Quartile: | Q1
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| Keywords: | Pain / Meditation / EEG / Pain-related oscillations
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EEG oscillations reveal neuroplastic changes in pain processing associated with long-term meditation |