Individuals with chronic pain can be trained to reduce pain by altering their brain activity, reported four newspapers (13 December 2005). A study showed that brain imaging and cognitive strategies can be used to control brain activity and reduce perception of pain. The long-term clinical usefulness of this technique is not yet known.
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On 13 December 2005 four newspapers (1-4) reported that individuals with chronic pain can be trained to reduce their pain levels by altering activity in an area of the brain that processes pain.
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The stories are based on a controlled study of 36 healthy individuals and 12 individuals with chronic pain, some of whom were trained to use real-time images of their brain activity, together with cognitive strategies, to alter activity in an area of the brain thought to be responsible for processing pain (5). Over time, participants became more able to change their brain activity and significantly reduce their perception of pain.
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The newspapers were generally accurate in their reports of the study and make use of quotations provided in the press release (6). However, one newspaper (1) suggested that brains could be trained to "switch off" feelings of pain. This is not supported by the findings, which show the technique is successful in reducing, but not necessarily removing, pain. The study findings were based on short-term effects in a small sample of mainly healthy individuals. Further research is required before the long-term clinical usefulness of such a technique is known.
