Can the Brain Help Predict Chronic Pain Risk

In this episode of Neuroscience Perspectives, we explore one of medicine’s most complex and pervasive challenges—chronic pain. Host John Foxe, PhD, director of the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester, sits down with Paul Geha, MD, associate professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, Neurology, and Dentistry at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Together, they unpack the ways our brains perceive pain and the impact it can have on well-being.Dr. Geha shares his research into how brain connectivity and structure change in patients with chronic pain—and how these changes might help us predict who is at risk for conditions like low back pain or failed surgery outcomes. They discuss the psychological dimensions of pain, the challenges of diagnosis and treatment, and how research is charting a new course to change tr ...