Neuroscience in addiction research

Neuropsychology of chronic back pain managed with long-term opioid use

“…Chronic pain and opioid use are independently associated with multiple psychological comorbidities, including negative affect, sleep disturbance, and diminished social interactions 5,18,29 . Are these outcomes worse in patients managing their chronic pain with long-term opioid consumption?…”

“…Yet, following a brief period of abstinence, they had mild but increased signs of withdrawal and worse mental well-being. Both human and rodent model evidence indicates the causal involvement of the mesocorticolimbic circuit in chronic pain [11][12][13][14][15][16] , and this circuit is the main target of opioid exposure leading to OUD 17,18,22 . Thus, the change in ongoing activity and network dynamics observed in CBP+O following abstinence should be cast in the context of similar knowledge in OUD and SUD.…”

“…Our group has demonstrated that the development of chronic pain involves mesocorticolimbic plasticity, including the limbic amygdala, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens (NAc), and associated cortical circuits: medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and posterior cingulate, precuneus cortex [11][12][13][14][15][16] . Interestingly, these same circuits are strongly implicated in OUD, especially the dopaminergic ventral tegmental area (VTA), NAc, and mPFC circuit 17,18 . From a high level, mesocorticolimbic circuits help code emotional valence and modulate behavioral responses, such as appetition and aversion [19][20][21] .…”