Pain-related evoked potentials in older adults with chronic pain: a cross-sectional study

We found a similar amplitude reduction in early (linked to sensory processing), but increased amplitude in late (linked to evaluative and attentional mechanisms) evoked potentials to pain in older adults with chronic pain in contrast to pain-free older adults. This pattern may reflect an age-related sensory coding decline combined with chronic pain-related enhancement of affective-attentional processing. Altogether suggest that plastic changes driven by suffering from long-lasting pain outweigh those resulting from the normal aging process when both coexist.