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Increased gray matter following mindfulness-based stress reduction in breast cancer survivors with chronic neuropathic pain: preliminary evidence using voxel-based morphometry

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the impact of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) on gray matter volume (GMV) in female breast cancer survivors who suffer from chronic neuropathic pain (CNP).

Methods

Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to explore differences in GMV in 13 MBSR trainees and 10 waitlisted controls, with MRI scans and self-report measures completed pre- and post-8 weeks of training.

Results

Compared to controls, the MBSR group had greater GMV in the angular gyrus and middle frontal gyrus post-training. The MBSR group’s right parahippocampal gyrus GMV increased from pre- to post-training, whereas the control group’s left parahippocampal gyrus, precuneus, middle temporal gyrus, and right cuneus GMV decreased over the same time period. Pain interference was significantly reduced and mindfulness was significantly increased following MBSR for the intervention group only.

Conclusions

MBSR was associated with increased GMV in regions where GMV is known to (1) increase with mindfulness and reorientation of attention and (2) decrease with the experience of chronic neuropathic pain. By contrast, the control group’s decreases in GMV may be due to the negative effects of CNP which potentially may be reduced with MBSR, though further research is needed.

Implications for cancer survivors

Given the poor efficiency of pharmacotherapies in a high percentage of women with neuropathic pain following breast cancer treatment, adjunct methods are required. MBSR may affect the brain to help alter attention and perception of pain, thus playing a potentially important role in the path to wellness for breast cancer survivors.

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Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge and thank the MRI technologists from the Ottawa Hospital and the group leaders for the MBSR groups. Additionally, thanks and gratitude are given to Jason Berard and Aziza Byron-Alhassan for providing additional support in coordinating and facilitating the neuroimaging sessions.

Funding

This work was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Youth Wellness Centre, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Taylor Hatchard, Stephanie Penta, Stacey Correia, Talia Tissera & Sasha A. Haefner

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Taylor Hatchard

  3. School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Ola Mioduzsewski, Olivier Brown & Andra M. Smith

  4. Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Patricia Poulin

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Contributions

TH: investigation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. SP: writing—original draft, writing—review and editing. OM: investigation. SC: writing—original draft. TT: writing—original draft. OB: writing—review and editing. SH: writing—review and editing. PP: conceptualization, resources, investigation, funding acquisition. AS: conceptualization, supervision, investigation, funding acquisition, formal analysis, resources, visualization, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing.

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Correspondence to Andra M. Smith.

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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Hatchard, T., Penta, S., Mioduzsewski, O. et al. Increased gray matter following mindfulness-based stress reduction in breast cancer survivors with chronic neuropathic pain: preliminary evidence using voxel-based morphometry. Acta Neurol Belg 122, 735–743 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-022-01877-5

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