Thursday, April 16th 2026
A new scientific study suggests that people suffering from chronic back pain may also have an increased sensitivity to unpleasant sounds, such as the sound of a knife scraping glass, reports the “Washington Post”.
The research was carried out by a team of researchers at the Anschutz School of Medicine of the University of Colorado, USA, and was published in the scientific journal “Annals of Neurology”.
The study was led by Dr. Yoni K. Ashar, neuroscientist and co-director of the Pain Science Program at this university.
The analysis also included Dr. Sean Mackey, head of the Division of Pain Medicine at Stanford University, who emphasized that it is not yet known whether this sensitivity is a consequence of pain or a predisposing factor that increases the risk of chronic pain.
Researchers analyzed 142 people with chronic back pain and 51 people without pain.
Participants underwent brain scans (fMRI) while listening to different sounds, including very loud noises. unpleasant.
According to the main findings, people with chronic pain reacted more strongly to noises than 84% of people without pain; their brains showed higher activity in areas that process sounds (auditory cortex) and unpleasant emotions (insula).
At the same time, lower activity was observed in areas that normally help regulate emotional reactions
According to the researchers, this indicates a type of “sensory amplification”, where the brain not only increases the sensation of pain, but also the response to other stimuli such as noise.
Dr. Ashar described this phenomenon as a kind of “common volume button in the brain,” which can simultaneously increase pain intensity and sensitivity to unpleasant sounds.
“Chronic back pain is not just a back problem. The brain plays a central role in how sensations are amplified,” he pointed out.
The researchers also tested a form of treatment called Pain Reprocessing Therapy. “Pain Reprocessing Therapy” (PRT), a psychological method that aims to change the way the brain interprets pain signals.
Preliminary results showed that this therapy reduced the intensity of pain and also reduced sensitivity to noises.
Scientists point out that it is still not clear whether people become more sensitive to noises as a result of chronic pain, or whether this sensitivity exists earlier and makes them more prone to pain. long-term.
The study opens a new perspective on chronic pain, showing that it is not limited to the body, but is also closely related to the way the brain processes sound, emotions and daily stimuli.
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Source: prizrenpost
