New insights exposed in the human brain connecting pain sensations with appetite
Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience have made a compelling discovery: there seems to be an association between chronic pain and changes in eating behavior. This groundbreaking finding was published in the prestigious journal PLOS ONE, with Paul Geha, M.D. serving as the lead author.
The study, which was also funded by the National Institutes on Drug Abuse, builds upon previous research by Dr. Geha, who authored a study published in PAIN. In this new study, Dr. Geha and his team found that the nucleus accumbens, a brain area associated with decision-making, may indicate a risk for long-term changes in eating behavior in chronic pain patients.
The researchers focused on the brain's response to sugar and fat in food. They found that patients with normal eating behavior initially but later developed chronic pain had a smaller nucleus accumbens. Interestingly, this change in food liking did not affect the patients' caloric intake. However, they did find that none of the patients experienced changes in eating behavior with sugar, but they did with fat.
Acute lower back pain patients who later recovered were most likely to lose pleasure in eating high-fat foods and show disrupted satiety signals. Brain scans of chronic lower back pain patients showed these disruptions. The size of the nucleus accumbens predicted pleasure ratings in chronic back pain patients and those who became chronic after an acute bout of back pain.
Chronic lower back pain patients reported that high-fat and high-carbohydrate foods became problematic for them over time. The study suggests that circuitry in the brain responsible for motivation and pleasure is impacted by pain.
Additional authors of the study include Yezhe Lin, Ph.D., Gelsina Stanley, Ivan de Araujo, Ph.D., and Dana Small, Ph.D. Dr. Lin and Dr. Stanley work at Harvard University. The research was conducted using a combination of brain scans, self-reported data, and behavioural tests.
Previous research by Dr. Geha found a smaller nucleus accumbens can indicate a greater risk of developing chronic pain. This new study further solidifies this connection, providing valuable insights into the complex relationship between chronic pain and changes in eating behavior.
In conclusion, this study provides compelling evidence that chronic pain can lead to changes in eating behavior and that the nucleus accumbens plays a significant role in this process. This research opens up new avenues for future studies and potential treatments for managing chronic pain and its associated complications.
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