Researchers have found ways in which brain circuits can be remodeled to treat chronic pain. Understanding how the brain works is essential in developing these new treatments.
Scientists want to eliminate dangerous analgesics, such as opioids, by creating an entirely new type of treatment that involves some brain changes where the pain is being processed. The study could help about 25 million people experiencing chronic pain.
According to David Linden, professor of neuroscience at John Hopkins University, the brain has the ability to control the pain. We see this in dramatic circumstances, like soldiers who do not realize they are injured during the fight.
When researchers from Brown University wanted to see how the upper phenomenon is possible, they found that some people are able to filter the pain. “There is coordination between the frontal part of the brain, which is the region that exerts the executive control, and the sensory part of the brain that filters the information from the external environment,” said Stephanie Jones, a researcher in the study. It has found that those with chronic pain can benefit from meditation techniques that allow them to remodel the pain and brain response to the impulse.
The study is part of a broader context where researchers from all over the world are trying to contribute to enriching knowledge about the most complex organ. One thing has become clear, as Ian Cook, a UCLA researcher, says: “The brain is an impressive organ of change. Every time people learn something new, there are physical changes in the brain structure that can be detected. “
