Treatment of chronic low back pain can reverse abnormal brain activity and function, researchers at McGill University and the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) have determined.

Low back pain is the most common form of chronic pain among adults. Individuals with chronic pain also experience cognitive impairments, reduced gray matter, depression, and anxiety.

The researchers asked the question: If you can alleviate chronic low back pain, can you reverse these changes in the brain?

The team recruited patients who had low back pain for more than six months and who planned on undergoing treatment for spinal injections or spinal surgery. 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, and found increased cortical thickness in specific areas of the brain related to pain reduction and physical disability.

After treatment, the abnormal brain activity that was observed initially during an attention-demanding cognitive task was found to have normalized.

Ref: D. A. Seminowicz, T. H. Wideman, et al., Effective Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain in Humans Reverses Abnormal Brain Anatomy and Function, Journal of Neuroscience, 2011; 31 (20): 7540 DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5280-10.2011