Brain scans show chronic back pain heightens sound sensitivity and responds to therapy
Mar 3rd 2026
A University of Colorado study of 142 chronic back pain patients and 51 controls found amplified responses to everyday sounds in the auditory cortex and insula, reduced activity in medial prefrontal regulatory regions, and improvement after Pain Reprocessing Therapy.
- People with chronic back pain rated everyday sounds as more unpleasant and showed stronger brain responses than about 84% of controls.