Overview
- The Annals of Neurology study tested 142 adults with chronic back pain and 51 pain-free controls using fMRI during sound and thumbnail-pressure tasks.
- Participants with chronic back pain rated everyday aversive sounds as far more unpleasant, reacting more strongly than 84% of controls on average, with sound sensitivity tracking recent pain levels.
- Neuroimaging showed amplified activity in the auditory cortex and insula together with reduced engagement of medial prefrontal regions involved in top-down regulation.
- In a randomized comparison of Pain Reprocessing Therapy, open-label placebo, and usual care, the therapy produced the largest reductions in sound-related hyperresponsivity and increased regulatory brain activity.
- Researchers plan further studies to test whether this sensory amplification predates chronic pain and whether it extends to other senses or pain conditions, with reported overlaps to fibromyalgia-like brain activity patterns.