Chronic pain permanently damages the brain
Scientists at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois), working under the guidance of Dr. Dante Chialvo, have identified the mechanism by which chronic pain syndrome has an irreversible effect on the brain.
The authors found that all regions of a healthy brain maintain a state of equilibrium: activation of one region suppresses the functioning of others. However, in people suffering from chronic pain, the parts of the cortex, mainly associated with the formation of emotions, are constantly in a state of activity. This leads to disruption of interneuronal contacts and even the death of some neurons.
This discovery is the first evidence of brain disorders caused by chronic pain that are not directly related to the sensation of pain.
To scan the brains of people with chronic low back pain and control groups, scientists used the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI). During the scan, all participants followed the movement of the rectangle on the computer monitor. According to the authors, patients with chronic pain performed the task well enough, but for this they had to use the brain in a slightly different way than healthy people did. In the control group participants, activation of certain brain regions led to deactivation of other regions. In patients with chronic pain, one of the "nodes" of this network remained constantly active. (In the figure, an increase in the activity of neurons is shown in colors from red to yellow, a decrease in blue.)
The authors believe that disturbances in the balance of brain activity, which may be irreversible, complicate the decision-making process, and also lead to the predominance of bad mood, the development of depression and other disorders of brain activity.
According to Cialvo, the data obtained indicate the need to develop new approaches to the treatment of patients with chronic pain syndrome, aimed not only at getting rid of pain, but also at preventing brain disorders associated with them.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily.
08.02.2008