Stress‐Related Brain Alterations in Chronic Pain
To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that stress severity differentially impacts grey matter integrity in people with chronic pain compared to pain-free healthy controls. Briefly, our results indicate that higher levels of stress were associated with larger putamen and right posterior insula in pain-free participants, potentially reflecting mechanisms of resilience to trauma in this group. Higher levels of stress, especially avoidance symptoms, were associated with smaller left middle cingulate cortex, a region with strong links to the somatosensory network and critical for empathy, especially toward pain-related stimuli.
Authors
- James H. McAuley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0550-828X)
- Yann Quidé (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8569-7139)
- Negin Hesam‐Shariati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0829-7016)
- Sylvia M. Gustin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9613-9845)
- Nell Norman‐Nott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0084-1454)
Institutions
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- Neuroscience Research Australia (AU)
Publication Details
- Journal
- European Journal of Pain
- Published
- 2025-05-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.70034
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.39
Funders
- Neuroscience Research Australia
- Australian Government
- Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation
- University of New South Wales
- Medical Research Council
- National Health and Medical Research Council