2023-05-23 04:52:12
Researchers have discovered for the first time that signals can be triggered in the brain when a person feels chronic pain, according to The New York Times, which indicated that the discovery will pave the way for implanted devices to predict or even control pain signals.
According to the newspaper, scientists used a device similar to a pacemaker that was surgically placed inside the brains of four patients who had felt persistent nerve pain for more than a year, and succeeded in reaching clues to the location of chronic pain in the brain.
The study, published Monday in the scientific journal Nature Neuroscience, showed that pain was associated with electrical fluctuations in the orbitofrontal cortex, an area involved in emotion regulation, self-evaluation and decision-making.
The research suggests, according to the newspaper, that such patterns of brain activity could serve as biomarkers to guide diagnosis and treatment for the millions of people with chronic pain or burning associated with a damaged nervous system.
According to the study, about one in five American adults suffers from chronic pain, which is persistent or recurring pain that lasts longer than three months. To measure this pain, doctors usually rely on patients to rate their pain, using either a numeric scale or a visual scale based on emojis. But self-reported measures of pain are subjective and can vary throughout the day. Some patients, such as children or people with disabilities, may struggle to accurately communicate or record their pain.
Scientists told the newspaper that this study is a major step in the field of pain to develop more objective signs of pain that can be used in addition to self-reports. In addition to advancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms that underlie pain, these markers could help in ascertaining pain that some patients experience and which their doctors do not fully appreciate or ignore.
According to the newspaper, previous studies have usually examined the brains of chronic pain patients to note changes in blood flow in different regions, which is an indirect measure of brain activity. Such research is limited to laboratories, however, and requires patients to visit the hospital or laboratory several times.
As part of a larger clinical trial for treating chronic pain, UCSF neurologist Dr. Prasad Shervalkar and colleagues used mild electrical currents to stimulate areas of the brain close to the electrodes.
The researchers hope to relieve patients’ persistent pain by sending pulses through the electrodes to correct any abnormal activity in the brain.
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