Washington Post - Back pain relief linked to anatomical changes in brain

A report in the May 18 Journal of Neuroscience finds that relieving chronic lower back pain correlates with a return to normal brain function. Fourteen patients performed a cognitive task before and after one of two treatments, either spinal surgery or an injection of anesthesia between spinal joints. The cognitive task, which tested patients’ ability to focus, involved picking out which of three numbers or letters didn’t belong in a group. Among those who felt pain relief after treatment, neural activity during the task improved to healthy levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, a brain region associated with attention.

More striking, the cortex had actually become thicker, attaining a thickness similar to that of healthy individuals. Previous research has suggested that chronic pain leads to a loss in volume of gray matter, and potentially function,in several brain regions. Laura Stone, lead author of the current study and a researcher at McGill University, said she expected a slowdown, not a reversal, of these kinds of losses. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is a particularly interesting area because it’s also associated with decision-making, anxiety, depression and emotion.