Preventing Chronicity of Sub-acute Low Back Pain by Altering the Neural Emotional Response to Pain - a Pilot Study Addressing the Efficacy and Feasibility of an Interoceptive Exposure Technique.
Preventing Chronicity of Sub-acute Low Back Pain by Altering the Neural Emotional Response to Pain - a Pilot Study Addressing the Efficacy and Feasibility of an Interoceptive Exposure Technique.
Aim of the study It could be stated that chronification of low back pain in some respects depends on the emotional reactions to the acute pain state. This approach enables advancing novel therapeutics for preventing pain chronification by altering the pain-related affective states. At present, no publication evaluating the efficacy of IET in altering brain responses related to sub-acute low back pain seems available. Neither have we found any studies specifically addressing the efficacy of mindfulness training on the functional connection between PFC and NAc.
The aim of this study project is three-fold:
To assess the efficacy of IET on the chronification of LBP, participants who are found to have a higher risk of pain chronification due to the presence of a biomarker (positive mPFC-Nac connectivity) will be randomized to the intervention group (IET) or control group A (treatment as usual). To assess how well this biomarker predicts the chronification of LBP, participants who are not found to have the biomarker will be assigned to control group B (treatment as usual).
Inclusion Criteria:
The selection of subjects will meet same criteria as in the study by Baliki et al. (2010).
Exclusion Criteria: