CHICAGO, Feb. 5 -- Chronic pain disrupts normal brain activity more widely than previously recognized, researchers here said.
Patients with chronic back pain showed different patterns of brain activity than healthy volunteers while performing a simple task, reported Dante R. Chialvo, M.D., of Northwestern University, and colleagues in the Feb. 6 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
The changes suggest that chronic pain alters brain function in the same way as disorders involving cognitive impairment, the researchers said.
The affected regions are part of the brain's "default mode network," the areas that are active when the consciousness is not actively engaged in a task. Even when we are "doing nothing," Dr. Chialvo explained in an interview, the brain does not go completely quiet.
The researchers said the results indicate that chronic pain leads to broad changes in resting brain activity, affecting regions not traditionally associated with pain signaling.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/PainManagement/PainManagement/8225