Differential Effects of Meditation States on Neural Pain Processing in Novice and Long-Term Meditators

Kolev, V, Malinowski, P ORCID: 0000-0001-5074-4508, Raffone, A, Nicolardi, V, Simione, L, Aglioti, SM and Yordanova, J (2026) Differential Effects of Meditation States on Neural Pain Processing in Novice and Long-Term Meditators. Mindfulness. ISSN 1868-8527

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Abstract

Objectives
The main objective of the present study was to explore the effects of different types of meditation on the neurophysiologic mechanisms of pain processing.

Method
EEG responses to electric median nerve stimulation were recorded in short-term and long-term meditators (STM, LTM) during rest and three forms of meditation engaging attentional and affective regulation in different ways: focused attention meditation (FAM), open monitoring meditation (OMM), and loving-kindness meditation (LKM). EEG responses were analysed in the time- and time-frequency domains to compute local components, and temporal and spatial synchronizations of multi-spectral pain-related oscillations (PROs) in order to characterize bottom-up processes, proactive modulation of cortical excitability, cognitive/affective appraisal, and the connectivity of performance monitoring (fronto-medial) and attentional (fronto-parietal) networks during pain processing.

Results
STM manifested a significant decrease in the connectedness of the fronto-medial theta-alpha network and a significant reduction of the P3b during LKM. In contrast, changes in LTM were observed during FAM and OMM. They were characterized by pre-stimulus alpha increase at somatosensory areas, and modulations of fronto-medial and fronto-parietal theta-alpha synchronizations.

Conclusions
Different meditation states do not influence bottom-up sensory pain processing. However, they significantly alter cognitive/affective pain mechanisms in state- and trait-dependent ways. In novice meditators, a positive emotional disposition during meditation can suppress the distribution and cognitive/affective appraisal of nociceptive signals. In expert meditators, the effects of meditation states on pain processing are critically guided by advanced control of internal attention leading to fine-tuned involvement and functional segregation of cognitive control and attention networks.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	1103 Clinical Sciences; 1608 Sociology; 1701 Psychology; 5201 Applied and developmental psychology; 5203 Clinical and health psychology; 5205 Social and personality psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Divisions:	Psychology (from Sep 2019)
Publisher:	Springer
Date of acceptance:	22 February 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	13 April 2026
Date Deposited:	13 Apr 2026 13:02
Last Modified:	13 Apr 2026 13:02
DOI or ID number:	10.1007/s12671-026-02802-0
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28362

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