SynthesisThe Clinical journal of pain2018
The Relationship Between Chronic Pain and Neurocognitive Function: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in The Clinical journal of pain, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 80 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
EEG-characteristics of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Chronic Pain
Effects of Acute Pain on Motor Learning in Young vs Older Adults
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 164 citations in OpenAlex.
- Aspirin Use and Risk of Alzheimer's Disease: A 2-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2023Pooled it
- The effects of psychological interventions on neurocognitive functioning in posttraumatic stress disorder: a systematic review.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2022Pooled it
- The Potential Contribution of Chronic Pain and Common Chronic Pain Conditions to Subsequent Cognitive Decline, New Onset Cognitive Impairment, and Incident Dementia: A Systematic Review and Conceptual Model for Future Research.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2020Pooled it
- An Educational and Exercise Mobile Phone-Based Intervention to Elicit Electrophysiological Changes and to Improve Psychological Functioning in Adults With Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain (BackFit App): Nonrandomized Clinical Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Trial
- Increased motor cortex inhibition as a marker of compensation to chronic pain in knee osteoarthritis.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Effects of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol on cognitive outcomes following acute use of cannabis for chronic pain.Psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- Comparing low and high recovery expectations among those with lumbar spinal stenosis: a network analysis.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2026Article
- Article
- Pathological mechanisms of osteoarthritis in the network of geriatric comorbidities: Emerging insights from organs-crosstalk.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2026Review
- Associations between pain and cognitive impairment in older adults: findings from the birjand longitudinal aging study.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Article
- The Effect of Thermal Pain on Working Memory: Behavioral Evidence from the n-Back Task.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Sustained Attention Instability as a Cognitive Biomarker in Chronic Spine Pain: A 90-second Visual Attention Test.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- Assessing relationships between cognition, sleep, and mental health in pediatric patients with chronic pain.The journal of pain · 2026Observational
- Effectiveness of Physiotherapy Interventions on Executive Function in Patients with Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.Neurology international · 2026Review
- Trajectories of pain and cognitive function: 22 years of evidence in mid-to-later life.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Neurobiological Signatures of Endometriosis: Characterizing Pain, Cognition, and Brain Morphology.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Unravelling the Connection Between Reduced Mobility and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Chronic Pain Patients Through Cluster Analysis.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Autobiographical memory of validating and invalidating consultations is associated with recall capacity for health information.PloS one · 2026Article
- High-impact pain predicts subjective cognitive decline and interacts with APOE4 genotype in the development of objective cognitive impairment.The journal of pain · 2025Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveUnderstanding the relationship between chronic pain and neurocognition has important implications for the assessment and treatment of patient experiencing pain. This paper provides an overview of the current literature examining the neurocognition-chronic pain relationship and suggests future avenues of research, along with a discussion of clinical implications of the literature findings. Consideration of potential moderators and mediators of this relationship, as well as a brief discussion of the importance of future research in special populations at particular risk for these problems, are also a focus of this paper.
methodsThis systematic review summarizes the findings of clinical studies in which neurocognitive performance was measured in chronic pain samples. A literature search led to the inclusion of 53 articles in the review.
resultsStudies of neurocognitive performance in clinical chronic pain samples support a relationship between chronic pain and neurocognitive abnormalities, particularly on tests of memory, attention, and processing speed, with mixed data regarding executive functioning. DISCUSSION: Several factors may moderate or mediate the relationship between chronic pain and neurocognitive functioning, including mood symptoms, medication side effects, and intensity and/or chronicity of pain. Limitations in the literature include a paucity of methodologically rigorous studies controlling for confounding variables (eg, opioid analgesia) and a limited number of studies examining the relationship between chronic pain and traumatic brain injury (a potential precipitant of both pain and neurocognitive impairment). Nonetheless, findings from the existing literature have significant clinical implications, including for populations with heightened risk of both pain and neurocognitive disorders.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.