For people living with chronic back pain, even a simple movement can trigger a sudden surge of pain. Now, scientists have discovered that these painful episodes activate a surprising part of the brain, one closely connected to our sense of identity and how we think about ourselves. Researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine found that movement-triggered pain in people with chronic low back pain (cLBP) activates a brain network that normally becomes less active during ordinary pain.
The discovery suggests that persistent back pain may become deeply intertwined with a person's sense of self, potentially helping explain why conventional pain treatments often provide limited relief. According to the World Health Organization, low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide. When pain persists for more than 12 weeks, it is considered chronic.
For many patients, everyday movements can provoke sudden flare-ups that make an already difficult condition even harder to manage. Although the brain plays a central role in how pain is experienced, researchers have struggled to identify the precise brain circuits responsible for pain triggered by movement. Chronic Back Pain Activates the Brain's Sense of Self The new study, published on October 5, 2026, in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, identified an unexpected response involving the brain's Default Mode Network (DMN).
Sometimes called the "self network," the DMN consists of interconnected regions in the frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes. These areas are especially active when our attention turns inward, such as when we reflect on personal experiences, think about our identity, or consider our thoughts and emotions. In contrast, the network generally becomes less active when we direct our attention toward something happening around us.
The researchers discovered that sudden back pain caused by movement switched this network on rather than off. This unusual response suggests that chronic pain involves more than the processing of physical sensations. It may also engage the brain systems that shape how people experience themselves.
The findings could help researchers understand why treatments that focus primarily on suppressing pain symptoms do not always work well for chronic low back pain. They also raise the possibility that targeting the DMN could offer a different approach to treatment. Brain Scans Reveal a Surprising Difference Between Chronic and Acute Pain To investigate what happens in the brain during a pain flare, the researchers recruited 114 patients with chronic low back pain.
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