Regular and long-term practice of yoga may improve pain tolerance,
according to a recent study. Findings from the study also show that yoga
practitioners have more gray matter in multiple brain regions compared
with individually matched people who did not practice yoga. The study,
supported in part by NCCAM, was published in the journal Cerebral Cortex.
Researchers recruited 14 experienced yoga practitioners, as well as
14 people who did not practice any mind-body techniques (individually
matched for sex, age, body mass index, left/right handedness, education,
and exercise level other than yoga). Participants underwent a cold pain
tolerance test—they immersed a hand in cold water until they could no
longer tolerate the pain. Researchers then asked participants about
strategies they used to tolerate the pain. The researchers also
conducted brain imaging scans to examine the structural differences in
gray matter and white matter between the yoga practitioner group and the
control group.
The researchers found that yoga practitioners tolerated cold pain
more than twice as long as the controls. Researchers also found no
significant difference in total gray matter volume between groups, but
yoga practitioners had greater gray matter volume in brain regions
related to pain processing, pain regulation, and attention. Across
participants, only the increased gray matter in the mid-insular cortex
(a portion of the brain believed to play a role in autonomic
integration) correlated with the higher pain tolerance. The volume of
insular gray matter in yoga practitioners also positively correlated
with the duration of yoga practice, suggesting that yoga experience
contributed to these structural differences in the brain. In addition,
yoga practitioners had increased white matter integrity within the left
insula. Finally, the researchers observed that to tolerate pain yoga
practitioners used cognitive strategies that are integral parts of yoga
practice, such as observing the sensation without reacting, accepting
the sensation, using the breath and relaxation while most control
participants did not.
The researchers noted that because of the cross-sectional nature of
this study, no definitive causal conclusions can be made. However, based
on the findings, the researchers suggest that regular, long-term yoga
practice may equip individuals with tools to deal with sensory inputs
and the potential emotional reactions attached to those inputs, which
may lead to structural changes in brain anatomy and connectivity.
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