About this Research Topic

Background

Sleep impairments are a common complaint in patients with acute and chronic pain, regardless of the cause or type of pain. Reciprocally, sleep disturbances are also known to increase sensitivity to both acute and chronic pain states. This article collection seeks to provide insight into the bi-directional relationship between pain and sleep, investigating expression, mechanisms, and potential treatment options for pain-related sleep impairment across preclinical and clinical research studies.

This collection aims to address:

• The impact of pain states on sleep patterns and EEG sleep architecture.
• The impact of pain states on activity of neural circuits that regulate circadian rhythms and sleep/wake cycles.
• The effectiveness of existing analgesic drugs to alleviate PRSI.
• The development of new drugs or other treatment strategies to improve sleep quality in individuals with acute or chronic pain.

We welcome submissions that explore:

• Expression:
o Characterizing the various ways PRSI manifests, including difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakenings, and disrupted EEG sleep architecture.
o Investigating the impact of pain intensity, location, and type on sleep disruption patterns.
o Examining how pain-related sleep impairments affect waking behaviors and/or comorbid conditions (e.g. depression/anhedonia, anxiety, cognition, alcohol/substance use disorders)

• Mechanisms:
o Unveiling the neural and psychological pathways linking pain to sleep disturbances.
o Examining the role of central sensitization, inflammation, and stress in pain-related sleep impairments.
o Examining aberrant CNS activity at a global (e.g. PET/fMRI, EEG) or local (e.g. fiber photometry, electrophysiology) scale in pain states and/or how ascending pain systems contribute to aberrant CNS activity, that may alter the switch from arousal to sleep states.
o Discovering mechanistic sites of pain-sleep interactions that could serve as targets for new treatments.

• Treatment:
o Investigating the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of specific pharmacological approaches, including pain and sleep medications, for improving sleep quality in individuals with chronic pain.
o Exploring the potential of novel therapeutic strategies targeting the underlying mechanisms of pain-related sleep impairments.
o Evaluating the efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), mindfulness meditation, and relaxation techniques in managing pain-related sleep impairments.

Overall, this collection aims to provide a broader understanding of factors contributing to pain-related sleep impairments and treatment strategies, offering valuable insights for researchers, clinicians, and healthcare professionals. Collectively, this collection will provide a foundation to develop and implement targeted and effective treatment strategies to improve sleep quality in individuals with chronic pain, improve pain management through addressing the sleep disturbances that exacerbate pain perception, and ultimately enhance the quality of life and overall well-being for those suffering from chronic pain and associated sleep impairments.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Chronic Pain, Sleep Disturbances, Pain-Related Sleep Impairment (PRSI), Neurophysiological Pathways, Treatment Strategies, Quality of Life

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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