Chronic pain linked to distinctive patterns of brain activity

Signatures of electrical activity have been identified in the brains of people with chronic pain. Although a small study, the discovery could one day lead to more effective treatments. Chronic pain, which lasts longer than 3 months, affects more than 30 per cent of the world's population, with existing therapies often having limited effectiveness. To help in the development of new treatments, Prasad Shirvalkar at the University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues set out to better understand how the brain regulates pain. The team implanted electrodes and stimulators into the brains of four people with chronic pain as a result of a stroke or amputation.