Neurorehabilitation and neural repair· 2012
Targeting Cortical Representations in the Treatment of Chronic Pain
- 458citations
- 2012year
Short summary
Chronic pain is linked to significant reorganization in brain regions like the somatosensory cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula, with greater reorganization correlating with increased pain and chronicity.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Chronic pain is associated with significant reorganization in the somatosensory cortex, motor cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula.
- The degree of cortical reorganization increases with the chronicity of pain.
- Cortical reorganization magnitude correlates with the intensity of pain in conditions like phantom limb pain.
- These central alterations may function as 'pain memories' modulating sensory and motor system outputs.
- Cortical plasticity offers potential targets for rehabilitation to normalize representational changes and decrease pain.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Recent neuroscientific evidence has confirmed the important role of cognitive and behavioral factors in the development and treatment of chronic pain. Neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain are associated with substantial reorganization of the primary somatosensory and motor cortices as well as regions such as the anterior cingulate cortex and insula. What is more, in patients with chronic low back pain and fibromyalgia, the amount of reorganizational change increases with chronicity; in phantom limb pain and other neuropathic pain syndromes, cortical reorganization correlates with the magnitude of pain. These findings have implications for both our understanding of chronic pain and its prevention and treatment. For example, central alterations may be viewed as pain memories that modulate the processing of both noxious and nonnoxious input to the somatosensory system and outputs of the motor and other response systems. The cortical plasticity that is clearly important in chronic pain states also offers potential targets for rehabilitation. The authors review the cortical changes that are associated with chronic pain and the therapeutic approaches that have been shown to normalize representational changes and decrease pain and discuss future directions to train the brain to reduce chronic pain.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Neurorehabilitation and neural repair, 2012 · DOI ↗
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Field: Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Anesthesiology and Pain MedicineMedicine