Research into the role of the brain in chronic pain
Doctors still debate about treating chronic pain with cannabis. At present, the evidence of benefit[1] does not clearly outweigh the long-term risks of cannabis to mental health.[2] Cannabis contains many chemicals but only delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) has significant pain-relieving properties. Unfortunately, THC is also responsible for the … [Read more...]
I am thrilled that Dr David Butler; he of the custard tart; the Duke of Irreverence; the internationally acclaimed clinical revolutionary, has started a blog. I am chuffed that he showed me his first post before it went live. And I could not help but respond because it takes two to tango and I have a few thoughts on this issue myself.I have … [Read more...]
There is nothing like a good thinking session to kick off the new year. In their new paper, just published in Pain Medicine, the dulcet tones of A/Prof Milton Cohen and partners have been transformed to print in what is a very interesting critique of the theory of pain as a disease. Or, as they put it, 'pain-as-a-disease'. It really is a tricky … [Read more...]
Brain imaging technology has become a big player in the world of pain research in the last 2 decades. In more recent years voxel based morphometry (VBM), which allows us to look at structural changes in the brain (specifically neuronal matter density) has produced some eyebrow raising research in chronic pain.It is this technology that produced … [Read more...]
We recognize things by name, so name is very important in order to know the world. Especially, one’s own name determines the existence of oneself by linking him/her to the social world. Thus own name is a special identifier for its owner. Reflecting this, psychologists have found that our own name has a great impact on mental processing. For … [Read more...]
I was unsure about that title, but I figured it's holiday season and I am going to talk about work I did with two Italians, and I know there are some Pink Floyd fans out there. Somewhere. If you have never heard of Pink or Floyd, then go with the subtitle - Space - temperature interactions in CRPS. Earlier this year, Alberto Gallace, Charlie Spence … [Read more...]
Imagine a cold winter day. Everything is covered by snow. You are getting ready to go out. Coat, scarf, wool cap, but on the table next to the main door there are your brand new gloves, one is blue the other one is red. How do we choose which glove corresponds to which hand? Most people automatically prepare, or imagine, moving one hand into the … [Read more...]
Well, what about those? Most researchers would suggest there aren't many of them. A quick review on PubMed will only give you a few useful hits, however it is estimated that about 70% of all people suffering from chronic nonspecific musculoskeletal pain manage to stay functioning at work. In actual fact this may in many cases be for the better, … [Read more...]
We have all experienced pain at some stage in our lives and anticipate pain as a consequence of injury. Despite this anticipation though we expect that with healing and time, pain will resolve. However, an acute pain can persist for many months and years, becoming chronic in its nature; a prospect difficult for many of us to imagine.Chronic … [Read more...]
Seeing another person jam their fingers in the car door is enough to make even the toughest of us wince. But for some people, seeing another person hurt themselves causes more than just an “ooooo” or an “ahhhh”. It can trigger an actual real experience of pain: “mirror pain”.But how is this possible? The important thing to remember … [Read more...]
Imagine being offered one half of a Snickers Bar that on first glance was cut into two equal halves. Unless a machine bisected it, the right half would still be just a tiny bit larger. Why is that? Roughly said, the brain’s hemispheres are responsible for different functions. The right hemisphere is specialized in spatial abilities. When asked to … [Read more...]
You may or may not have heard of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), but it is non-invasive method for stimulating the brain with low intensity electrical currents. Over the last decade or so there has been plenty of basic physiology research demonstrating that tDCS directly modulates cortical excitability. Neatly, anodal stimulation … [Read more...]
Living with chronic pain can be miserable. Not only are there the nagging aches and pains of every day life, but there might also be forgetfulness, anxiety, depression, or difficulty concentrating as well.Researchers don’t yet know whether these ‘cognitive deficits’ are caused by pain itself, or whether it’s naturally more forgetful, … [Read more...]
It is known that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) patients often present unhelpful pain beliefs / behaviors, such as catastrophic thinking, depressive thoughts, passive coping strategies and fear of movement or kinesiophobia. Several of these beliefs and personality traits could potentially enhance pain perception, a process known as cognitive … [Read more...]
Motor actions are planned and steered from the brain. Input from eyes, muscles, joints, skin and vestibular system continuously inform the brain about actual movements. Simultaneously, this information is compared with the motion program (that what was predicted) in the brain, which is important for adjusting motor plans and ensuring smoothness of … [Read more...]
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