A new study indicated that chronic pain has a wide spread impact on overall brain function. This finding may offer a possible explanation for many common mental and behavioural problems also seen in chronic pain patients. Using functional magnetic resonance (MRI), investigators at the North-western University in Chicago found individuals with chronic Back Pain (CBP) had alternations in the functional connectivity of the areas of the brain that are unrelated to pain.
‘ This is the first clue we have that conditions such as depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances and decision-making difficulties, affect the quality of life of chronic pain patients just as much as the pain and may be directly related to altered brain function ' principle investigator Cante Chialvo, MD, told Medscape Neurology and Neurosurgery. According to DR Chialvo, previous research has show that , at rest the healthy brain is in a state of co operative equilibrium, so that when one region is active, the other become less active or deactivated. The brain regions engaged in this resting state are known as the default mode network (DMN) and usually ‘shut off’ when an individual is paying attention to a task. However, the study found that compared with healthy controls the regions of the DMN in chronic pain patients never ‘quiet down’/ Furthermore the study suggests that, over time, chronic plain may lead to permanent reorganization of the brain. Indicating that prompt treatment of pain may not only you a lot of discomfort but may also protect your brain .