Don’t be dumb: get back-pain treated, says study

Chronic pain in the lower back causes thinning of certain regions of the brain, which may lead to cognitive impairments, say pain researchers from Canada's McGill University and its attached health centre.

They suggest that treatment of chronic lower back pain can reverse the downturn in brain activity and functioning.

Adults suffering from chronic pain also experience cognitive impairments and reduced grey matter in parts of the brain associated with pain processing and the emotional components of pain, like depression and anxiety.

The researchers found that six months after back pain treatment like surgery or spinal injections, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex - a brain region associated with pain - thickened, indicating improvement.

The team began by recruiting patients who had lower back pain for more than six months and who planned on undergoing treatment – either spinal injections or surgery – to alleviate their pain.

MRI scans were conducted on each subject before and six months after their procedures. The scans measured the cortical thickness of the brain and brain activity when the subjects where asked to perform a simple cognitive task.