The effect of mindful attention training for pain modulation capacity: Exploring the mindfulness–pain link

Objective: Mindfulness has been shown to be beneficial for chronic pain. The underlying mechanisms of the mindfulness–pain link, however, are yet to be established. Particularly, the effects of mindfulness on pain modulation, which is shown to be dysfunctional among chronic pain patients, barely has been tested. This study investigated whether a short mindful attention training based on Langerian mindfulness mitigates reductions in pain modulation. Method: Systemic quantitative-somatosensory testing of conditioned pain modulation (CPM) was conducted in 60 undergraduates, who were randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) Pain-specific mindful attention training; (2) nonspecific mindful attention training; and (3) no mindful attention training. CPM was tested before and after the intervention. Results: As hypothesized, a reduction in CPM magnitude was observed only in the control group, whereas this reduction was abolished in the two mindfulness groups. Conclusions: Langerian mindfulness may mitigate pain modulation reduction as observed in chronic pain, thus shedding light on its potential advantages.