Chronic pain is bad for your brain

                   Chronic Pain Is Bad For Your Brain

                                      Alen J Salerian MD

   NeuroImaging studies have been very informative to study chronic pain . There are numerous  studies that would substantiate the following conclusions.

1.     Chronic pain causes brain atrophy in specific regions such as thalamus and prefrontal cortex(1).

2.     People who are prone to pain-fibromyalgia – seem to have specific brain abnormalities that precede their pain disorder. Gray matter volumes of amygdala and cingulo frontal cortex are diminished in patients with fibromyalgia(2).

3.     Chronic pain patients have abnormally low responses to direct micro stimulation of thalamus. This suggests thalamus is compromised in its ability to mediate pain(3).

4.     Effective pain treatment reverses abnormal brain function associated with chronic pain(4).

Take home message: chronic pain is bad for your brain. Effective treatment reverses potential permanent brain damage.

References:

1.Apkarian V , Sosa Y ,Sonty S,Levy M et al.Chronic  back pain is associated with decreased prefrontal and  thalamic and   gray matter  density.  The Journal of neuroscience .November 17, 2004 24 (46): 10410 – 10415

3. Noxious somato sensory stimulation  affects the default mode  of  brain function:

 evidence from functional MRI imaging. radiology 2009, 253 (three): 797 – 804

4.Effective treatment of chronic low back pain in  humans  reverses  abnormal brain anatomy and function. Journal of neuroscience 2011, 31 (20): 7540 – 7550.