Pain as a Correlate of Hoarding in Neurocognitive Conditions

Our findings indicate a relationship between hoarding behaviors and increased pain in patients with neurocognitive conditions, aligning with recent population-based literature showing increased chronic pain in hoarding disorder. An absence of correlation with negative mood symptoms or anxiety, commonly observed in studies with other populations, suggest a distinct mechanism in these neurocognitively impaired populations. Further studies should consider investigating shared neurobiological substrates in pain processing and executive function, particularly in the anterior cingulate cortex and insula to gain a better understanding of these associations.