Separate and Combined Effects of Mindfulness Meditation and Savoring on Pain-Related Corticostriatal Function

Dr. Garland is Co-I on this neuroimaging experiment, in which the research team aims to examine the overlapping and unique neural mechanisms of mindful breathing and savoring techniques during experimental pain induction among patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

In the R61 phase, we will randomize rheumatoid arthritis patients to a brief 4-session (20 minutes each) course of mindful breathing (n=20), savoring (n=20), or a sham mindfulness control (n=20). At post-intervention, participants will undergo functional MRI (fMRI) using a perfusion-based arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique during noxious thermal stimulation to determine if mindfulness and savoring are associated with corticostriatal activation when compared to Sham mindfulness.

 

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