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This study investigated the analgesic effects of a single session of mindfulness meditation (MM) and loving-kindness meditation (LKM) relative to a control. A total of 100 adults with chronic or current problematic pain completed a survey and were randomized to a 20-minute MM, LKM, or audiobook control. Co-primary outcomes of pain intensity and unpleasantness and mediators of mindfulness and self-compassion were assessed pre- and posttraining. Expectancies were assessed pretraining. Pain type (chronic vs current problematic) was a covariate. Relative to the control, higher expectancies were reported for MM and LKM ( P < .001). MM ( d  = 0.41, P = .032) and LKM ( d  = 0.38, P = .027) had medium effects on pain intensity, with greater decreases than control ( d  = 0.05, P = .768). All conditions had small effects on unpleasantness. Mindful observing increased more within MM ( d  = 0.52, P = .022) and the control ( d  = 0.50, P = .011) than LKM ( d  = 0.12, P = .50); self-compassion increased more in LKM ( d  = 0.36, P = .042) than MM ( d  = 0.27, P = .201) and the control ( d  = 0.22, P = .249). The mediation models were nonsignificant. Pain type was a nonsignificant covariate. Overall, MM and LKM were associated with positive expectancies and small-medium pain intensity reductions, which did not differ by pain type. Although MM and LKM were associated with changes in theorized mediators, these changes did not underlie improvement.

Objective: Psychological treatments for chronic low back pain (CLBP) are effective. However, limited research has investigated their neurophysiological mechanisms. This study examined electroencephalography- (EEG-) assessed brain oscillation changes as potential mechanisms of cognitive therapy (CT), mindfulness-meditation (MM), and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) for CLBP. The a priori bandwidths of interest were changes in theta, alpha and beta power, measured at pre- and post-treatment., Design: A secondary analysis of a clinical trial., Setting: University of Queensland Psychology Clinic., Subjects: Adults (N = 57) with CLBP who completed pre- and post-treatment EEG and pain outcome assessments., Methods: EEG data were examined for five regions of interest (ROIs); the primary outcome was pain intensity., Results: A significant reduction in theta (P=.015) and alpha (P=.006) power in the left frontal ROI across all treatments was found, although change in theta and alpha power in this region was not differentially associated with outcome across treatments. There were significant reductions in beta power in all five ROIs across all treatments (P≤.013). Beta power reduction in the central ROI showed a significant association with reduced pain intensity in MBCT only (P=.028). Changes in other regions were not statistically significant., Conclusions: These findings provide support for the capacity of psychological CLBP treatments to induce changes in brain activity. The reduced beta power in all five ROIs indicated that all three treatments engendered a state of lowered cortical arousal. The growing body of research in this area could potentially inform novel directions towards remedying central nervous system abnormalities associated with CLBP., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)