慢性疼痛是指持續(xù)一個月以上（以前為三個月或半年）的疼痛,，也有人把慢性疼痛比喻為一種不死的癌癥。目前,，中國至少有一億以上的慢性疼痛患者,。
一般而言，急性疼痛是一種癥狀,，慢性疼痛則是一種疾病,，也是預(yù)示人體其他部位可能出現(xiàn)健康危機(jī)的“警報(bào)器”。由于它的頻繁“發(fā)威”會使人出現(xiàn)睡眠紊亂,、食欲缺乏,、精神崩潰甚至人格扭曲和家居不寧等后果，致使不少病人因無法忍受長期的疼痛折磨而選擇自殺,。
Riitta Haria等研究人員最新通過對慢性疼痛患者的fMRI 研究發(fā)現(xiàn),，和急性疼痛不同，慢性疼痛可能讓大腦的和自主神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)有關(guān)的區(qū)域在功能上重新配線,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1001504107
Aberrant temporal and spatial brain activity during rest in patients with chronic pain
Sanna Malinena,b,1, Nuutti Vartiainena,b, Yevhen Hlushchuka,b, Miika Koskinena,b, Pavan Ramkumara, Nina Forssa,c, Eija Kalsod, and Riitta Haria,b,e,1
In the absence of external stimuli, human hemodynamic brain activity displays slow intrinsic variations. To find out whether such fluctuations would be altered by persistent pain, we asked 10 patients with unrelenting chronic pain of different etiologies and 10 sex- and age-matched control subjects to rest with eyes open during 3-T functional MRI. Independent component analysis was used to identify functionally coupled brain networks. Time courses of an independent component comprising the insular cortices of both hemispheres showed stronger spectral power at 0.12 to 0.25 Hz in patients than in control subjects, with the largest difference at 0.16 Hz. A similar but weaker effect was seen in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas activity of the precuneus and early visual cortex, used as a control site, did not differ between the groups. In the patient group, seed point-based correlation analysis revealed altered spatial connectivity between insulae and anterior cingulate cortex. The results imply both temporally and spatially aberrant activity of the affective pain-processing areas in patients suffering from chronic pain. The accentuated 0.12- to 0.25-Hz fluctuations in the patient group might be related to altered activity of the autonomic nervous system.
