Brain Plasticity

Diverse Role of Biological Plasticity in Low Back Pain and Its Impact on Sensorimotor Control of the Spine

Published: Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2019 Volume:49 Issue:6 Pages:389–401 DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2019.8716 Synopsis Pain is complex. It is no longer acceptable to consider pain solely as a peripheral phenomenon involving activation of nociceptive neurons. The contemporary understanding of pain involves consideration of different underlying pain mechanisms and an increasing awareness of plasticity in […]

Spinal manipulation therapy: is it all about the brain? A current review of the neurophysiological effects of manipulation

Journal of Integrative Medicine Available online 9 May 2019 GilesGyer Abstract Spinal manipulation has been an effective intervention for the management of various musculoskeletal disorders. However, the mechanisms underlying the pain modulatory effects of spinal manipulation remain elusive. Although both biomechanical and neurophysiological phenomena have been thought to play a role in the observed clinical […]

Increased Salience Network Connectivity following Spinal Manipulative Therapy is Associated with Reduced Pain in Chronic Low Back Pain Patients

The Journal of Pain K. Isenburg, M. Loggia April 2019 Volume 20, Issue 4, Supplement, Page S42 Abstract Chronic low back pain (cLBP) has been associated with maladaptive brain plasticity, and non-pharmacological therapies such as Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT) have shown promise in reducing pain and modifying intrinsic brain physiology. However, more translational research is […]

Neuroplasticity Altered With Chronic Back Pain

Ingrid Hein October 25, 2018 Patients who suffer chronic lower back pain, particularly those on sick leave, might have different mechanisms of pain control in the brain, results from a study of functional MRI show. Researchers at the American College of Rheumatology 2018 Annual Meeting in Chicago reported a weaker functional MRI signal in emotion-related […]

Manipulation of Dysfunctional Spinal Joints Affects Sensorimotor Integration in the Prefrontal Cortex: A Brain Source Localization Study – Full Text

Neural Plasticity Volume 2016, Article ID 3704964, 9 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/3704964 Dina Lelic Received 12 November 2015; Accepted 28 January 2016 Abstract Objectives. Studies have shown decreases in N30 somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) peak amplitudes following spinal manipulation (SM) of dysfunctional segments in subclinical pain (SCP) populations. This study sought to verify these findings and to […]

Is neuroplasticity in the central nervous system the missing link to our understanding of chronic musculoskeletal disorders?

René Pelletier BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2015, 16:25 doi:10.1186/s12891-015-0480-y Abstract Background Musculoskeletal rehabilitative care and research have traditionally been guided by a structural pathology paradigm and directed their resources towards the structural, functional, and biological abnormalities located locally within the musculoskeletal system to understand and treat Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD). However the structural pathology model does not […]

Immediate Changes After Manual Therapy in Resting-State Functional Connectivity as Measured by fMRI in Participants With Induced Low Back Pain

J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2014 Oct 2. pii: S0161-4754(14)00171-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.09.001. [Epub ahead of print] Immediate Changes After Manual Therapy in Resting-State Functional Connectivity as Measured by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Participants With Induced Low Back Pain. Gay CW1, Robinson ME, George SZ3, Perlstein WM4, Bishop MD5. Abstract OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study […]

Structural Brain Alterations in Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Preliminary Study [Full Text Article]

PLoS One Published: March 3, 2014 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0090816 Michael Luchtmann Abstract Chronic pain is one of the most common health complaints in industrial nations. For example, chronic low back pain (cLBP) disables millions of people across the world and generates a tremendous economic burden. While previous studies provided evidence of widespread functional as well as structural […]

Neural responses of posterior to anterior movement on lumbar vertebrae: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Meier ML,et al. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2014 Jan;37(1):32-41. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2013.09.004. Epub 2013 Nov 12. Abstract OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop and test a clinically relevant method to mechanically stimulate lumbar functional spinal units while recording brain activity by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Subjects were investigated in […]

Structural Brain Changes in Chronic Pain Reflect Probably Neither Damage Nor Atrophy

Citation: Rodriguez-Raecke R, Niemeier A, Ihle K, Ruether W, May A (2013) Structural Brain Changes in Chronic Pain Reflect Probably Neither Damage Nor Atrophy. PLoS ONE 8(2): e54475. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054475 Abstract Chronic pain appears to be associated with brain gray matter reduction in areas ascribable to the transmission of pain. The morphological processes underlying these structural […]

Altered brain morphometry in carpal tunnel syndrome is associated with median nerve pathology

Maeda Y, et al. Neuroimage Clin. 2013;2:313-319. PubMed Reference Abstract OBJECTIVE: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common median nerve entrapment neuropathy characterized by pain, paresthesias, diminished peripheral nerve conduction velocity (NCV) and maladaptive functional brain neuroplasticity. We evaluated structural reorganization in brain gray (GM) and white (WM) matter and whether such plasticity is linked […]

Cerebral metabolic changes in men after chiropractic spinal manipulation for neck pain

Altern Ther Health Med. 2011 Nov-Dec;17(6):12-7. Cerebral metabolic changes in men after chiropractic spinal manipulation for neck pain. Ogura T, Tashiro M, Masud M, Watanuki S, Shibuya K, Yamaguchi K, Itoh M, Fukuda H, Yanai K. Abstract BACKGROUND: Chiropractic spinal manipulation (CSM) is an alternative treatment for back pain. The autonomic nervous system is often […]

Central Neuronal Plasticity, Low Back Pain and Spinal Manipulative Therapy

JMPT June 2004 Volume 27, Issue 5, Pages 314–326 Robert W Boal, PhD Abstract Objective Recent experimental evidence demonstrating neuronal/synaptic plasticity and, in particular, long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) in spinal neurons is reviewed. The implications of these studies for possible mechanistic explanations of low back pain and its remediation by spinal manipulative […]