Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2026
Birgit Heckemann, Lionel Snell, Mark I Johnson
This perspectives article explores magical thinking (which is often dismissed as irrational or pathologized) as a potentially valuable personal orientation and resource for people living with chronic pain: as a way to make more sense of their complex and challenging life experience, psychologically as well as socially. Magical thinking entails a broader acceptance of connectivity between...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2025
Rebecca Stewing, Thomas Forkmann, Elisabeth Vögtle et al.
Research has shown substantial evidence for the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions in the management of chronic pain. Less evidence is available whether a one-time mindfulness intervention may also be helpful in alleviating acute procedural pain. While anticipating a potentially painful procedure, people may worry about the upcoming pain. We investigated whether the time spent in...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2025
Shahar Almog, Michelle Weiner, Jessica N Howarth et al.
Chronic pain is an individual experience with physical and psychological dimensions. Ketamine is used in sub-anesthetic doses to treat chronic pain. We describe a proposed multidisciplinary approach with combined treatment of low-dose ketamine and pain-focused psychological and somatic therapies to benefit quality of life of disabled chronic pain patients. Beyond pain reduction, within the...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2024
Sonia Medina, Owen O'Daly, Matthew A Howard et al.
5 citations
Mind-body treatments can improve coping mechanisms to deal with pain, improve the quality of life of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS), and reduce perceived pain in some cases. However, responses to these treatments are highly variable, the mechanisms underpinning them remain unclear, and reliable predictors of treatment response are lacking. We employed resting-state blood oxygen...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2024
Minjung Shim, Monica Gaydos, Natasha Goldstein-Levitas et al.
4 citations
Responding to the need for innovative, multi-modal, non-pharmacological strategies in chronic low back pain (cLBP) care, this article presents the development and a mixed methods feasibility trial of a manualized Mindfulness-based Dance/Movement Therapy (M-DMT) program for cLBP. The 12-week program is designed as a group therapy, integrating mindfulness principles, creative/expressive dance and...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2023
Daniella Batievsky, Michelle Weiner, Shari B Kaplan et al.
8 citations
Chronic pain and depression diagnoses are skyrocketing. There is an urgent need for more effective treatments. Ketamine was recently established to alleviate pain and depression, but many gaps remain in the scientific literature. This paper reports the findings of an observational preliminary study that explored the efficacy of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAPT) for chronic pain/major...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2023
Carole A Paley, Mark I Johnson
3 citations
In this article, we provide a unique perspective on the use of mindfulness interventions in a whole health framework embedded within the theory of salutogenesis and the concept of painogenic environments. We argue that mindfulness is a valuable tool to bridge exploration of inner experiences of bodily pain with socio-ecological influences on thoughts and emotions. We outline research from...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2023
Ramakrishnan Mani, Divya Bharatkumar Adhia, Sharon Awatere et al.
3 citations
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic secondary musculoskeletal pain condition resulting in disability, reduced quality of life, and high societal costs. Pain associated with knee OA is linked to increased sensitivity in sensory, cognitive, and emotional areas of the brain. Self-regulation training targeting brain functioning related to pain experience could reduce pain and its associated...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2023
Jonathan Dickinson, Jose Adalberto Dominguez Inzunza, Liliana Perez-Villa et al.
3 citations
Brachial plexus nerve root avulsion results from complete separation of the nerve root from the spinal cord and is one of the most challenging types of neuropathic pain, coinciding with motor, sensory and autonomic deficits. The severe pain and typical impossibility of root reattachment often leads to requests for amputation. Ibogaine is an indole alkaloid producing psychoactive effects through...
Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland)
2021
Carolane Desmarteaux, Anouk Streff, Jen-I Chen et al.
11 citations
Background: The effectiveness of hypnosis in reducing pain is well supported by the scientific literature. Hypnosis typically involves verbal suggestions but the mechanisms by which verbal contents are transformed into predictive signals to modulate perceptual processes remain unclear. We hypothesized that brain activity during verbal suggestions would predict the modulation of responses to...