Episode 96 :: Tim Gard :: Pain Attenuation Through Mindfulness

By Ted Meissner | December 23, 2011

Tim Gard

Tim Gard speaks with us about a new study just released on pain attenuation through mindfulness.

Hi, everyone. As we mentioned in last week’s episode, we’re fortunate this week in having the author of a new study just released. This study helps shed some light on what happens in the brain when we feel pain, what happens in the brain when we feel pain while in a mindfulness state, and how this is different than what we see in placebo responses to pain. We also examine some of the subtle differences between studies of this kind, and why these distinctions matter.

Again, I would like to thank the staff of Dr. Sara Lazar’s lab at Massachusetts General Hospital for their outreach and interest in timely discussion of their work. What you’re discovering is helping energize and excite us, and we’re truly grateful to you.

Tim Gard is a PhD student of neuroscience at the Bender Institute of Neuroimaging in Giessen, Germany, where he is currently finishing up his thesis on the neural correlates of mindfulness-induced analgesia. He obtained his master’s degree in psychology from Maastricht University with his thesis entitled “Regulation of Emotion and Cognition During Mathematical Problem Solving: the Effects of Yoga in an Indian Sample.” Currently, Tim is a visiting researcher and research assistant at the Lazar Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he works on behavioral and neuroimaging data obtained from Kripalu Yogis. After his graduation, Tim will continue to investigate yoga as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Lazar’s lab.

So, sit back, relax, and have a nice Coke, lots of ice. It really goes quite well in Winter.