Chronic back pain is now linked to auditory hyperresponsivity. New imaging data reveals amplified brain responses to everyday sounds. Targeted psychological therapy has shown potential to partially reverse this sensory hypersensitivity.
Researchers compared 142 adults with chronic back pain to 51 pain-free individuals using functional MRI. Chronic back pain patients reported heightened unpleasantness to auditory stimuli and mechanical pressure. Auditory stimulation showed hyperresponsivity in key brain areas like the primary auditory cortex and insula, with reduced activity in the precuneus and medial prefrontal cortex. Importantly, a pain reprocessing therapy trial reduced the unpleasantness of low-intensity auditory stimulation and increased medial prefrontal cortex responses compared to placebo.
These findings suggest chronic back pain involves cross-modal sensory amplification, affecting both primary sensory and regulatory brain networks. Reduced medial prefrontal cortex activity may indicate impaired top-down inhibition of aversive signals. The study highlights that central sensitization, a key component of chronic pain, appears to be modifiable through targeted therapies.