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Depressed people handle pain differently

Scientists have found clues in the brains of people with major depression that might help explain why so many depressed people also battle chronic pain.

Brain imaging showed people with depression had more activity in brain regions involved in emotions when they anticipated or experienced pain, the researchers found.

Irina Strigo of the University of California San Diego and colleagues told volunteers eight seconds beforehand that a painful experience was coming -- being touched on the arm with a device hot enough to cause brief pain but not injury.

While anticipating the pain, the people with depression registered increased activation in brain circuitry involved in processing emotions, including structures called the amygdala and insula, compared with the people with no depression.

More than three quarters of depressed people have recurring or chronic pain, while 30 percent to 60 percent of people with chronic pain report symptoms of depression.

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