Chronic Pain Can Change Your Brain

"Chronic Pain Harms the Brain" was the title of a research study reported by Dante Chialvo, lead author and associate research professor of physiology at the Feinberg School at Northwestern University.

Now there is evidence that people just don't suffer from chronic pain in the injured or ill parts of their bodies.  When people have chronic pain, there can be changes in the brain.  People with chronic pain can also experience a breakdown in their brain functioning.

Now there may be a physiological explanation to account for pain sufferer's chronic poor sleep, depression, anxiety and their inability to make decisions. 

These symptoms are not only associated with the source of pain in the body.  These symptoms can be associated with changes in the brain associated with chronic pain. 

When people have chronic pain, they may have a dysfunction in the cortex of the brain associated with the emotions.  When there is chronic pain, the emotional part of the brain doesn't turn off.

"Chialvo hypothesized the subsequent changes in wiring may make it harder for you to make a decision or be in a good mood to get up in the morning. It could be that pain produces depression and the other reported abnormalities because it disturbs the balance of the brain as a whole."

"Researchers found that in a healthy brain all the regions exist in a state of equilibrium. When one region is active, the others quiet down.

But in people with chronic pain, a front region of the cortex mostly associated with emotion "never shuts up," said Dante Chialvo, lead author and associate research professor of physiology at the Feinberg School. "The areas that are affected fail to deactivate when they should.

They are stuck on full throttle, wearing out neurons and altering their connections to each other.

This is the first demonstration of brain disturbances in chronic pain patients not directly related to the sensation of pain.

When certain parts of the cortex were activated in the pain-free group, some others were deactivated, maintaining a cooperative equilibrium between the regions. This equilibrium also is known as the resting state network of the brain. In the chronic pain group, however, one of the nodes of this network did not quiet down as it did in the pain-free subjects.

This constant firing of neurons in these regions of the brain could cause permanent damage, Chialvo said. "We know when neurons fire too much they may change their connections with other neurons and or even die because they can't sustain high activity for so long," he explained.

This study suggests that people with chronic pain need also to be evaluated and treated for the failure of the brain to turn off the emotional cortex of the brain.  This research may lead to new ways for treating chronic pain.

Remember, We Live within the Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach