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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 General Board Posts >> Mind over grey matter 
        
(Message started by: ben_uk on Dec 15^th, 2005, 9:03am)

Title: Mind over grey matter
Post by ben_uk on Dec 15^th, 2005, 9:03am

Power of the mind can lessen chronic pain

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/mg18825304.700.html

From issue 2530 of New Scientist magazine, 17 December 2005, page 19

PATIENTS could suppress chronic pain by learning to control the activity of certain areas of their brains.

Christopher deCharms of imaging technology firm Omneuron in California and his colleagues at Stanford University showed eight patients suffering from chronic pain feedback from real-time functional magnetic resonance images of the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC), one of the brain's pain centres.

All of the patients had complicated conditions, including fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain, which had failed to respond to treatment. But after just three 13-minute sessions in the scanner, five of the patients learned to suppress the activity of the rACC and reduce their sensation of pain by more than 50 per cent, according to standard questionnaire assessments (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, vol 102, p 51).

The volunteers could not explain how they were able to manipulate their brain activity, but control experiments in which healthy people endured painful heat on the palms of their hands showed that they could not diminish pain levels without seeing the brain-scan feedback, or when shown brain scans from a different region of the brain or from a different person.

Previous work suggested that people might be able to manipulate their experience of pain in this way (New Scientist, 1 May 2004, p 9), but this is the first demonstration in a clinical setting. They have yet to establish whether the patients can retain the ability.

:o

Title: Re: Mind over grey matter
Post by marlinsfan on Dec 15^th, 2005, 9:29am

Dr. Sarno wrote a book called The Mindbody Prescription, which I read 7 or 8 years ago maybe. Reading it came as a result of one of the many diagnoses. They told me at the time that I was stressed out and that was why I was getting headaches.

I read the book, and still have CH....

Title: Re: Mind over grey matter
Post by cootie on Dec 15^th, 2005, 12:46pm

Mind over matter.....running screaming bitching yelling slamming into stuff crying and throwing or kicking things.....if all else fails......meds over matter Pam

Title: Re: Mind over grey matter
Post by Jasmyn on Dec 15^th, 2005, 2:48pm

I can control pain from the neck down but it is hard to use my grey matter when the pain occupies the same space.