{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,11]],"date-time":"2026-10-11T03:27:52Z","timestamp":1791689272077,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,24]],"date-time":"2025-05-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1748044800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Brain Sciences"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Chronic pain affects a significant proportion of the population in the United States and poses a significant public health concern. Beyond physical discomfort, chronic pain has been increasingly linked to cognitive dysfunction, including impairments in memory, attention, executive function, and decision-making. The relationship is particularly pronounced in older adults and may contribute to the onset or progression of neurodegenerative diseases. Objective: This comprehensive review explores the relationship between chronic pain and cognitive function, emphasizing the underlying neurobiological mechanisms, structural brain changes, and associated comorbidities. Methods: A review was conducted using peer-reviewed studies that began with the earliest pain and cognition mechanisms, followed by further investigation of cognitive effects of chronic pain, neuroimaging findings, and comorbid neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions. Sources included large-scale cohort studies, functional MRI analyses, and neurobiological investigations focusing on prefrontal cortex activity, default mode network alterations, and gray matter atrophy. Results: Chronic pain is associated with cognitive deficits through multiple converging pathways. It contributes to measurable impairments in cognitive function and is linked to structural and functional brain alterations. Regions of interest include the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and default mode network, which can be connected to the neural resource hypothesis because of their cognitive domain impairments. A better understanding of these mechanisms highlights the importance of early recognition and multidisciplinary management strategies, including neuromodulation and cognitive rehabilitation. Future research should prioritize longitudinal studies and integrated interventions targeting both pain and cognitive health.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/brainsci15060559","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,25]],"date-time":"2025-05-25T20:26:50Z","timestamp":1748204810000},"page":"559","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":39,"title":["The Impact of Chronic Pain on Cognitive Function"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Milan","family":"Patel","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53705, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jamal","family":"Hasoon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care, and Pain Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0681-8941","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rodrigo","family":"Diez Tafur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centro MDRS: Sports, Spine & Pain Center, Pain Management Unit, Clinica Angloamericana, Lima 15073, Peru"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2705-1548","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giuliano","family":"Lo Bianco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Responsabile Unita\u2019 Operativa Analgesia e Chirurgia Percutanea, Fondazione Istituto G. Giglio, 90015 Cefal\u00f9, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alaa","family":"Abd-Elsayed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53705, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e328","DOI":"10.1097\/j.pain.0000000000002291","article-title":"Prevalence of chronic pain among adults in the United States","volume":"163","author":"Yong","year":"2022","journal-title":"Pain"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e2313563","DOI":"10.1001\/jamanetworkopen.2023.13563","article-title":"Estimated Rates of Incident and Persistent Chronic Pain Among US Adults, 2019\u20132020","volume":"6","author":"Nahin","year":"2023","journal-title":"JAMA Netw. 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