Abstract
Chronic pain is a condition in which pain progresses from an acute to chronic state and persists beyond the healing process. Chronic pain impairs function and decreases patients’ quality of life. In recent years, efforts have been made to deepen our understanding of chronic pain and to develop better treatments to alleviate chronic pain. In this review, we summarize the results of previous studies, focusing on the mechanisms underlying chronic pain development and the identification of neural areas related to chronic pain. We review the association between chronic pain and negative affective states. Further, we describe the structural and functional changes in brain structures that accompany the chronification of pain and discuss various neurotransmitter families involved. Our review aims to provide guidance for the development of future therapeutic approaches that could be used in the management of chronic pain.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 3130 |
| Journal | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 13 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jul 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: This research was supported by Dr.Ahn’s Rehabilitation Clinic (grant number: 219C000425).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Central sensitization
- Chronic pain
- Corticolimbic system
- Negative affective state
- Neurotransmitter