Effective treatment of low back pain can reverse functional and structural brain abnormalities caused by the pain, particularly in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, according to a new study in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Chronic pain is associated with reduced brain gray matter and impaired cognitive ability. After treatment for the pain, patients had increased cortical thickness in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, correlating with reduction of pain and physical disability.
In addition, increased thickness in primary motor cortex was specifically associated with reduced physical disability, while right anterior insula was specifically associated with reduced pain.
Read the Journal of Neuroscience study on chronic pain.
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