The Research Progress on the Neural Interaction Mechanisms and Integrated Intervention Strategies of Chronic Pain and Negative Emotions
10.13471/j.cnki.j.sun.yat-sen.univ（med.sci）.2025.0203
- VernacularTitle:慢性疼痛与负性情绪的神经交互机制及综合干预策略研究进展
- Author:
Xiaoke WANG
1
;
Qing SHU
1
Author Information
1. College of Sports Medicine， Wuhan Sports University， Wuhan 430079， China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
chronic pain;
negative emotions;
pharmacotherapy;
non-invasive neuromodulation;
psychotherapy;
acupuncture
- From:
Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Medical Sciences)
2025;46(2):197-209
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Chronic pain patients often experience varying degrees of negative emotions， such as anxiety and depression， and the persistent presence of these negative emotions may further exacerbate chronic pain. When treating chronic pain， improving either aspect of pain or negative emotions， the other symptom will also be alleviated. The brain regions involved in chronic pain and negative emotions partially overlap and share similar neurophysiological mechanisms， which may be one of the important reasons for their interaction. Multiple brain regions play synergistic roles in pain-related emotional， cognitive， and motivational processing， especially brain regions such as the amygdala， prefrontal cortex， nucleus accumbens， and ventral tegmental area in the cerebral cortex-limbic system， which are critical for the recognition and processing of emotional information. Currently， the clinical treatment of chronic pain remains challenging， especially the limitations of existing pharmacologic treatments. Therefore， benign regulation of negative emotions occupies an important place in the treatment of chronic pain as one of the important intervention targets. In this paper， on the basis of summarizing the neural mechanisms that generate negative emotions in chronic pain， a variety of current therapeutic options for chronic pain related negative emotions are summarize and organized， including pharmacotherapy， non-invasive neuromodulation， psychotherapy， and acupuncture. The combined application of these options not only helps to alleviate patients' negative emotions， but also provides more precise therapeutic targets and more effective strategies for future research. The aim of this article is to deepen beginners' understanding of the background of chronic pain pathophysiology and to provide a reference for clinical practice and research.
