Where's Pain in the Brain? Scans Provide Clues
Where's Pain in the Brain? Scans Provide Clues Where's Pain in the Brain? Scans Provide Clues Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:21 AM PDT CREDIT: Artem Chernyshevych | Stock Xchng Doctors usually have to rely on patients to tell them when "it hurts," but a new study suggests brain scans could provide a way to objectively measure pain. In the study, the researchers identified a pattern of brain activity — a "signature" — linked with physical pain. The signature could be used as an objective tool to assess pain, the researchers said. This may be useful in treating patients who cannot communicate, or those whose reports of pain are called into question. The signatures might also be used to study how well a pain treatment is working. In the study, researchers, using only scans of people's brains, were able to accurately distinguish between people in pain from heat and those merely experiencing