Neural Mechanisms Underlying Anxiety–Chronic Pain Interactions

Chronic pain is a major medical problem that is resistant to conventional medical intervention. It also causes emotional changes such as anxiety and fear. Furthermore, anxiety or fear often enhances the suffering of pain. Based on recent studies, I propose chronic anxiety triggered by injury or chronic pain is mediated through presynaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a key cortical region for pain...