The New Yorker: The Neuroscience of Pain

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/07/02/the-neuroscience-of-pain

 

Yeah, I delved into that article and hope that the compound she is testing sees the light of day.

 

I'm not clear on how using an MRI to try to qualify pain would be any more successful than using an MRI to measure IQ. MRIs will demonstrate activity in both, but qualifying discrete levels may be a ways off. 54-Tesla or such...

 

The implication from that article is that chronic pain cannot (currently) be cured, because it is no longer really "physical", but instead arises from the brain.

I had chronic pain lasting 30 years which was then 90% reduced by a skilled surgeon, and the fix has so far lasted about 15 years. If the chronic pain was arising from my brain how did surgery ever reduce it?

 

Placebo effect of course.

 

So many inferences made from fMRI data are problematic. But isn't it good to know that we are making those problematic inferences based on the most expensive, high resolution scanner available. That's a great comfort.

 

Great article. Really interesting stuff.

I sure hope the volunteers who participate in these experiments (especially the one outlined in the excerpt below) are well compensated. Eeek!

"Inflatable rectal balloons mimic the distinctive pain caused by damage to internal organs."

 

The surgeon who got it right was the second one to have a go. The first one failed. Perhaps the placebo effect depends on the skill of the surgeon.

 

or on the perceived skill of the surgeon

 

This is all getting too complicated for me now!