Cognitive Reserve as a Protective Factor of Mental Health in Middle-Aged Adults Affected by Chronic Pain.

Abstract

Chronic pain is associated with worse mental health and cognitive impairment, which can be a cause or a consequence of brain structure and function alterations, e.g., maladaptive plasticity, antinociceptive system dysregulation. Cognitive reserve reflects the effectiveness of the internal connections of the brain and it has been shown to be a protective factor in brain damage, slowing cognitive aging or reducing the risk of mental health disorders. The current study explored the impact of chronic pain on psychosocial factors, mental health, and cognition. Furthermore, we aimed to examine the role of cognitive reserve in the relationship between mental health and chronic pain clinical characteristics in middle-aged adults. The study group consisted of 477 volunteers from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative who completed online surveys on pain, mental health, cognitive reserve, and psychosocial factors (sleep and quality of life). We described the differences in sociodemographic data, psychosocial factors, mental health, and self-perceived cognitive impairment, and neuropsychological assessment, between participants reporting pain compared with those without pain, as well as the main characteristics of the chronic pain group.