PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.—Yoga can help prevent or reverse the effects of chronic pain on the brain, according to an official from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
 
Chronic pain can reduce gray matter volume and alter white matter integrity in the brain, according to M. Catherine Bushnell, PhD, scientific director of the Division of Intramural Research at NIH. A loss of gray matter can lead to memory impairment, emotional problems and decreased cognitive function. The new research suggests that mind-body techniques such as yoga and meditation can counter these effects, said Dr. Bushnell during a presentation at the 2015 annual meeting of the American Pain Society.
 
“Brain anatomy changes may contribute to mood disorders and other affective and cognitive comorbidities of chronic pain,” she said. “The encouraging news for people with chronic pain is mind-body practices seem to exert a protective effect on brain gray matter that counteracts the neuroanatomical effects of chronic pain.”
 
Dr. Bushnell said changes in the gray matter affect pain tolerance and reduction, and the impact of the loss depends on where it occurs in the brain (i.e., the insula is most significant for pain tolerance). She noted that studies have shown that yoga practitioners have more gray matter than controls in multiple regions of the brain, including areas involved in pain modulation, and some participants have even increased their gray matter volume.
 
“Insula gray matter size correlates with pain tolerance, and increases in insula gray matter can result from ongoing yoga practice,” Dr. Bushnell said. “Practicing yoga has the opposite effect on the brain as does chronic pain.”
—PMN Staff
Based on a press release from the American Pain Society.