Exploratory study on the ascending pain pathway in patients with chronic neck and shoulder pain based on combined brain and spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging

This research identified that patients with CNSP exhibited reduced mean FA and increased mean MD in the bilateral intracranial STT, although these differences were not statistically significant (<i>p</i> > 0.05). Conversely, significant abnormalities were observed in specific segments of the bilateral cervical STT (<i>p</i> < 0.05), which were also correlated with variations in pain intensity, illness duration, and levels of anxiety and depression. These findings contribute a novel neuroimaging perspective to the evaluation and elucidation of the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying chronic pain in the ascending conduction pathways.