即使你以前從未嘗試過，一個簡短的冥想也能幫助你控制疼痛

即使你以前從未嘗試過，一個簡短的冥想也能幫助你控制疼痛

Mindfulness and meditation have long been associated with positive health benefits. Now, a small new study suggests such benefits can emerge even after just a short period of meditation, - and even if you've never tried it before.

長期以來，正念和冥想一直與積極的健康益處聯(lián)系在一起。現(xiàn)在，一項小規(guī)模的新研究表明，即使你以前從未嘗試過，即使在短暫的冥想之后，這些益處也會顯現(xiàn)出來。

The study involved 17 people, so we can't make any sweeping generalisations from it, but the volunteer participants coped better with both physical pain and negative emotions when they applied techniques given to them in a short 20-minute mindfulness exercise beforehand.

這項研究涉及17個人，所以我們不能一概而論，但當志愿者們事先進行20分鐘的正念練習時，他們能更好地應(yīng)對身體疼痛和負面情緒。

None of the study participants had practiced meditation before, which isn't often the case with experiments like these. Hence, the results suggest that the brain can quickly get to grips with the state of mind brought on by meditation.

這些研究參與者之前都沒有練習過冥想，而這在類似的實驗中并不常見。因此，研究結(jié)果表明，大腦可以迅速掌握冥想帶來的精神狀態(tài)。

"The findings support the idea that momentary mindful-acceptance regulates emotional intensity by changing initial appraisals of the affective significance of stimuli, which has consequences for clinical treatment of pain and emotion," write the researchers in their published paper.

研究人員在他們發(fā)表的論文中寫道:“研究結(jié)果支持了這樣一種觀點，即短暫的有意識接受通過改變對刺激的情感意義的最初評價來調(diào)節(jié)情緒強度，而這種情感意義對疼痛和情緒的臨床治療具有影響。”

In the study, the volunteers were put through two sets of tests: one where something warm or hot was put on their forearm, and one where they were shown negative or neutral images. A negative image might be something like a mutilated body, for example, while a neutral image could be something like a chair.

在這項研究中，志愿者們接受了兩組測試:一組是在他們的前臂上放一些溫暖的東西，另一組是給他們看一些消極或中性的圖像。負面圖像可能是殘缺不全的身體，而中性圖像可能是一張椅子。

During these tests, half the time the participants were told to act naturally, and half the time they were told to try and apply the ideas from the mindfulness crash course they had been given; when applying mindfulness, the participants reported less pain and fewer negative emotions.

在這些測試中，一半的時間參與者被告知要自然地行動，另一半的時間他們被告知要嘗試并應(yīng)用他們所接受的正念速成課程中的想法;當應(yīng)用正念時，參與者報告的疼痛更少，負面情緒更少。

While this was happening, the researchers were also using fMRI scans to see how the brains of the people being tested were reacting. This revealed something interesting: a significant drop in brain activity associated with pain and negative emotions when volunteers were trying to be mindful.

當這種情況發(fā)生時，研究人員也在使用fMRI掃描來觀察被測者的大腦是如何反應(yīng)的。這揭示了一個有趣的現(xiàn)象：當志愿者試圖保持清醒時，與疼痛和負面情緒相關(guān)的大腦活動顯著下降。

In the case of the physical experiment, when the highest temperatures were used, it was "as if the brain was responding to warm temperature, not very high heat", says neuroscientist Hedy Kober from Yale University.

耶魯大學的神經(jīng)科學家Hedy Kober說，在物理實驗中，當使用最高溫度時，大腦“就好像對溫暖的溫度做出反應(yīng)，而不是很高的溫度”。

What's more, these neurological shifts weren't happening in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the bit where conscious and rational decision-making is processed – that suggests that deploying some mindfulness techniques can alter our brains on a subconscious level, without any deliberate effort in willpower.

更重要的是，這些神經(jīng)學上的轉(zhuǎn)變并沒有發(fā)生在大腦的前額葉皮層，這部分區(qū)域負責處理有意識和理性的決策——這表明運用一些正念技巧可以在潛意識層面上改變我們的大腦，而不需要任何有意識的意志力。

Previous studies have demonstrated how lower brain activity and meditation practices can boost our health in numerous ways, but what this study shows – limited in scope as it is – is that the benefits can be relatively quick.

先前的研究已經(jīng)證明，低強度的大腦活動和冥想練習可以在很多方面促進我們的健康，但這項研究表明，盡管范圍有限，但其益處可能相對較快。

That in turn could give doctors new ways to try and treat physical and mental issues, though more research is going to be needed to see how these ideas play out in a bigger, more diverse group of people.

這反過來又可以給醫(yī)生提供新的方法來嘗試和治療身體和精神問題，盡管還需要更多的研究來觀察這些想法在更大、更多樣化的人群中的表現(xiàn)。

"The ability to stay in the moment when experiencing pain or negative emotions suggests there may be clinical benefits to mindfulness practice in chronic conditions as well – even without long meditation practice," says Kober.

Kober說：“在經(jīng)歷痛苦或消極情緒的時刻保持清醒的能力表明，即使沒有長時間的冥想練習，在慢性疾病中進行正念練習也可能有臨床益處。”。

The research has been published in Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

這項研究發(fā)表在《社會認知與情感神經(jīng)科學》上。