Research Findings on Mindfulness | NCCIH

Research Results | NCCIH

Research Findings on Mindfulness

Extensive research is being done on mindfulness-based interventions for a variety of health purposes. Let’s look at what some NCCIH-funded studies of mindfulness have shown: Mindfulness practices may be helpful in treating opioid use disorder. A recent NCCIH-funded study provided preliminary evidence that mindfulness-oriented recovery enhancement (MORE)—an integrative behavioral group therapy that involves training in mindfulness, reappraisal, and savoring skills—may be a useful addition to methadone maintenance therapy for people with opioid use disorder and chronic pain. People who are naturally more mindful report less pain and show lower activation of a specific region of the brain in response to an unpleasant heat stimulus, according to an NCCIH-funded study. The innate ability to be mindful—that is, to pay attention to the present moment without reacting to it—differs among individuals. Group sessions of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) or cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can provide cost-effective treatment for chronic low-back pain, according to NCCIH-funded research. A study partially funded by NCCIH showed that mindfulness meditation helps relieve pain by a mechanism that’s independent of opioid neurotransmitter mechanisms in the body. This finding is important because it suggests that mindfulness may act synergistically with other forms of treatment that do rely on opioid signaling.  See more research results