Psychobiological and Learning-Related Mechanisms Involved in the Development of Chronic Pain

We will present data on key brain changes  in primary somatosensory cortex, insula, anterior cingulate cortex, striatum and frontal cortex related to chronic pain based on our work on brain circuits involved in appetitive and aversive pavlovian conditioning, operant conditioning of pain reward and relief, spouse responding to pain and phantom limb pain. We show that many of these learing-related changes precede the onset of pain and predict chronicity. We also provide evidence that aberrant brain changes can be normalized by these targeted treatment approaches.