Russell writes this blog about the inhibitory brain in response to an article* that he read over the weekend and some of the interactions that he has had over the past week (approx 2 minute read)
One of the biggest ideas that really made me change my thinking about how the body works was this.
The brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) are mainly inhibitory.
What does that mean?
It means that the CNS is constantly and continually exerting an inhibitory influence over the messaging that comes from the body and actions in the body.
In people that have spinal injuries and some strokes, you see this in action where the inhibitory influences are taken away.
They have uncontrolled muscle tone (spastic or hypertonic), increased reflexes and characteristic movement patterns.
If you imagine that every single sensory input was registered as important, or dangerous, what would life be like?
Everything would hurt.
And that is how it is for people with persistent pain. Things that shouldn’t hurt are painful.
This is the definition of allodynia.
It is like the brain’s inhibitory influences have been reduced, or as David Butler says, like the ‘internal drug cabinet’ has dried up.
The internal drug cabinet is so powerful, it is estimated that it is 50 times more powerful than any drug that can be injected, swallowed, smoked or snorted.
If it is that powerful, you are going to notice the difference when it is dried up!
So the trick is to find ways to reestablish this inhibitory influence.
I’ll talk more about it in the followup to this, but essentially it is understanding, pacing, goal setting and achievement and celebration.
And of course, patience and persistence. You won’t get there without those two.
*The article I read was ‘Patient action: as means and end for chronic pain care’ by Mark Sullivan and Kevin Vowles in Pain 158 (2017) 1405-1407.
