Scientists in Chicago have discovered new clues into what role the brain plays in chronic back pain (CBP).
The investigators used magnetic resonance imaging brain scans to compare the morphology of 26 individuals with CBP with 26 pain-free control subjects.
According to the report "patients with CBP showed 5-11% less neocortical gray matter volume than control subjects. The magnitude of this decrease is equivalent to the gray matter volume lost in 10-20 years of normal aging. The decreased volume was related to pain duration, indicating a 1.3 cm(3) loss of gray matter for every year of chronic pain."
The study also showed that CBP patients had decreased gray matter density.
"Our results imply that CBP is accompanied by brain atrophy and suggest that the pathophysiology of chronic pain includes thalamocortical processes," conclude the authors.
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