Research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) uses a new imaging technique, arterial spin labeling to display areas of the brain that are activated when patients with low back pain are worsening the usual, chronic pain. This research is published in the August issue of the Journal Anesthesiology.
"This study represents a first step towards providing tools to describe objectively a chronic pain is a subjective experience. We found that when a patient is worsening the grief the usual, there are changes in the activity of the brain, "said Ajay Wasan, MD, MSc, lead author of the paper and a researcher at the management centre at BWH pain."These changes occur in the network of brain areas that process pain and mood. "
Researchers compared 16 patients suffering from chronic low back pain (CLBP) in 16 healthy subjects. Participants submitted three Imaging sessions. The first was a qualification and training session. During the second meeting, researchers used clinical maneuvers, such as pelvic inclination or raising straight leg, temporarily aggravate pain in the back. In the third session, the heat was applied to the skin in a matching volume levels of pain during the second session. Patients rated pain levels before and after the sessions and after boost during the sessions.
During the last two sessions, researchers used arterial spin emfainoysas technique, which allows to quantify the blood flow to particular areas of the brain over time. The amount of blood flow is an indicator of Neuron activity in the region of the brain. They found that there was an increase in activity in the brain of patients with CLBP, only when it faced a worsening of the chronic pain and not during the period of operation of heat or pain in healthy participants. Researchers also note that some of the areas of the brain that is activated when participants experienced a worsening of chronic pain has proved to be linked to other types of pain that found in other studies. However, researchers also observed a number of areas, including activation of upper posterior lobule, which are less often associated with pain in the previous investigation.
"While this study begins to reveal some of the basic physiology of the brain, such as processes pain, most studies are needed to help understand how the brain can change during the processing of pain and to examine the mechanisms of brain pain that improves, '' Wasan said. "We are approaching the description, on an objective level, how the body and the brain reacts when a patient reports having more pain. We are hopeful that this could lead to an understanding of the individual patient and neurocircuitry that knowledge may lead to therapies that are tailored to the individual. "
By Brigham and women's Hospital
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar