Pain is in the brain: taking charge through mental strength

Pain is in the brain: taking charge through mental strength

A research team from the School of Medicine at Stanford University has come up with striking results in a study, indicating that people with intense and persistent pain can lower the experience by watching their own brain scan images as they train on a group of exercises designed to strengthen mental faculties. The process reminds one of Star Trek's Mr. Spock who utilized the Vulcan mind method to affect painful experiences.

The results have hinted at developing methods to alleviate pain in chronic cases where regular medical procedure provides limited relief and patients have to bear excruciating pain for longer durations. The conclusions drawn have focused on the possibility of training people on how to manage the pain centre inside the brain such that the perception of pain stimuli is altered, lowering the “feeling” of such pain.

The study had 8 patients suffering from persistent pain and 36 medically fit people. The latter group was given an experimental pain experience by over heating the left palm while the study proceeded.

All patients were trained to manage their pain by exercises which regulate the nerve activity of that centre, called the rostral anterior cingulate cortex. They were given a set of four sequential instructions; 1)To concentrate consciously on a non-pain area of the body 2) Experience pain as a neutral thing, minus any association with fear or hurt 3) Consider pain as either low or high 4) Control the feeling without letting it overwhelm you.

Simultaneously, they were shown their own MRI scans and explained where the pain centre of the brain functions, even as they applied the instructions to deal with the pain. . This procedure helped them to correlate how their thinking process was influencing that centre, leading to learning how to manage that centre with changing thoughts. In other words, they were able to know and learn how their brains acted under different perceptions of pain.

Some practice sessions later, the patients reported lesser pain.

Dr Sean Mackey, co-leader of the research team, says they couldn't decipher the exact nature of how the whole process works, but the results were clear and evident in all 8 patients, who claimed lessening of pain by about 50% and more.

An alternative method minus the scan images was used on four patients in pain. Here, they were provided with feedback and they were taught to control natural body reactions by viewing heart rate and breathing functions on the screen.

The Stanford team is optimistic about the heavy implications of the findings, believing that they can be utilized immensely for long drawn medical treatment of chronic sufferers. However, the need to build further on the basic data is strongly felt. For example, there are doubts about whether this method is spot on or can be used for long term pain repetitively.

Omneuron Inc., a California based company, whose scientific officer was involved in the study, is and will be the developer for the technology required for such treatment.The Dec. 12 internet edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, carried the report of findings.