When Your Brain Turns Down the Pain: Pain and the brain part 3
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Show Notes
This episode explores how pain is not just a bodily signal but a brain-made experience shaped by context, expectations, and emotions. It covers top-down modulation (stress or adrenaline can suppress pain; mood can amplify it), the role of placebo and endogenous opioids, and surprising findings sugar pill placebo effects.
It also summarizes practical, non-pharmacological strategies like cognitive behavioral therapy, exercise, mindfulness, pain education, and social support, that engage the brain’s own analgesic systems to reduce pain or improve coping.
Bibliography / references used to write the episode:
- Wang et al. (2025). The effect of music therapy for patients with chronic pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine (Baltimore).
- Garza-Villarreal et al. (2017). Music-Induced Analgesia in Chronic Pain Conditions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Pain Physician.
- IsHak et al. (2018). Pain and Depression: A Systematic Review. Harv Rev Psychiatry.
- Lunde et al. (2024). Role of Expectations in Placebo Analgesia: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Psychosom Med.
- Hohenschurz-Schmidt et al. (2024). Placebo analgesia in physical and psychological interventions: systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Pain.
- Borg et al. (2025). Open-label placebo effects in chronic musculoskeletal pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep.
- Morley et al. (1999). Meta-analysis of CBT for chronic pain. Pain.
- Maglione et al. (2016). Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Rand Health Q.