Chronic pain resolution after a lucid dream: a case for neural plasticity?

Chronic pain is often treated with a multidisciplinary biopsychosocial approach that addresses biological, psychological, and social factors, and such interventions have been shown to improve symptoms. However, the mechanisms behind pain relief remain unclear. Using the case of Mr. S, who experienced complete pain resolution after a lucid dream following two years of biopsychosocial treatment, the authors propose that central nervous system reorganization (neural plasticity) may be a mechanism for therapeutic benefit, potentially setting a neural framework for healing.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Chronic pain is often managed using a multidisciplinary, biopsychosocial approach. Interventions targeting the biological, psychological, and social aspects of both the patient and the pain have been demonstrated to provide objective and subjective improvement in chronic pain symptoms. The mechanism by which pain attenuation occurs after these interventions remains to be elucidated. While there is a relatively large body of empirical literature suggesting that functional and structural changes in the peripheral and central nervous systems are key in the development and maintenance of chronic pain states, less is known about changes that take place in the nervous system as a whole after biopsychosocial interventions. Using as a model the unique case of Mr. S, a patient suffering with chronic pain for 22 years who experienced a complete resolution of pain after a lucid dream following 2 years of biopsychosocial treatments, we postulate that central nervous system (CNS) reorganization (i.e., neural plasticity) serves as a possible mechanism for the therapeutic benefit of multidisciplinary treatments, and may set a neural framework for healing, in this case via a lucid dream.