Scientists find brain ‘brake’ that could switch off chronic pain. Here’s how

Scientists have identified a potential “brake” in the brain that could help reduce severe chronic pain, after mapping pain signals in individual patients and using targeted electrical stimulation to interrupt them.

The findings, published on July 30 in Brain Stimulation, are based on a small series of case studies involving three people with severe, long-lasting facial pain. Researchers found that precisely targeting specific areas of the brain with electrical signals eased pain in two of the participants.

Unlike acute pain caused by injuries such as a broken bone, chronic pain can persist long after an injury has healed. It can also involve changes in the brain and spinal cord, making it particularly difficult to treat.

“We have been limited in what we can do for these patients, and they have a great deal of suffering,” said Michael Lim, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. Lim said the findings could open up a new approach to treating chronic pain.

How the brain ‘brake’ works

One existing approach to treating some neurological conditions is deep brain stimulation, or DBS. The treatment uses electrodes implanted in the brain and connected to a battery-powered device placed in the chest.

DBS is most commonly used for Parkinson’s disease, but researchers are also studying its potential in conditions including depression and chronic pain. However, previous studies into DBS for chronic pain have produced inconsistent results, with some patients benefiting while others see little improvement.

Vivek Buch, a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist at Stanford, said this may be because pain is not controlled by a single area of the brain. “The experience of pain is built by collections of brain networks, including those that handle sensory input, chemical signals and even emotional components,” Buch said.