Scientific Lectures //
Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Brain in Pain
Gregory Lieberman, PhD University of Vermont Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit and Department of Neurological Sciences
Presented: March 20, 2014
ABSTRACT: Abnormalities in the structure of gray matter and BOLD functional activity have been shown to be associated with chronic musculoskeletal pain, and some of these abnormalities may be attenuated following clinical intervention. Despite strong evidence that new learning neuroplastically alters the brain’s white matter, few studies have so far focused on the role played by white matter in chronic musculoskeletal pain or on changes in the brain’s white matter following treatment. This research demonstrates that differences exist in the white matter of chronic musculoskeletal pain patients’ brains at baseline, and further that successful cognitive behavioral therapy for coping with chronic pain has the ability to meaningfully influence the properties of pertinent pathways of the pain matrix.
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