Pain Neuroscience Education and Memory (PNE)

November 24, 2025 updated by: Evidence In Motion

Pain Neuroscience Education's Effect on Memory and Pain Drawings: An Exploratory Study

Brief Summary:

The goal of this observational study (case series) is to determine whether Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) can influence memory function and sensory awareness in adults (18 years and older) experiencing chronic pain lasting more than one year.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

Does a single PNE session improve memory performance, as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)?

Does PNE change sensory awareness, as represented by alterations in body pain drawings using a grid overlay method?

Participants will:

Complete pre-intervention assessments, including:

Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)

Body chart drawing to map pain area

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)

Pain Catastrophization Scale (PCS)

Receive a 10-15 minute standardized PNE session delivered by a licensed clinician trained in pain science

Complete the same assessments immediately after the intervention to identify any changes in memory, sensory awareness, and pain perception

This study aims to explore whether PNE can positively impact cognitive and sensory functions affected by chronic pain, beyond its already-established effects on movement and pain intensity.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Detailed Description:

Chronic pain is a complex, multidimensional condition affecting approximately 25% of the global population. It is increasingly understood through the lens of brain-based changes, particularly the dynamic pain connectome, a network of brain regions involved in sensory, cognitive, and emotional processing. Functional reorganization in chronic pain patients may contribute to clinical symptoms beyond pain, such as memory loss, decreased sensory awareness, and altered motor control.

Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) is an educational intervention that aims to reconceptualize a patient's understanding of pain to reduce fear-avoidance, pain catastrophization, and disability. Systematic reviews have demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing pain and improving movement. Early fMRI studies suggest that PNE may also deactivate pain-related brain areas and normalize brain function.

This case series seeks to explore the impact of a single PNE session on cognitive (memory) and sensory (body perception) outcomes in individuals with chronic pain. Participants (aged 18 and older) who meet inclusion criteria and consent to the study will undergo pre- and post-intervention assessments. These include:

Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)

Pain body chart (grid overlay method)

Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)

Pain Catastrophization Scale (PCS)

Following baseline assessments, participants will receive a 10-15 minute individualized PNE session delivered by licensed clinicians trained in advanced pain science. Immediately post-intervention, assessments will be repeated to evaluate changes.

The study aims to contribute to the understanding of how PNE may influence brain-related symptoms associated with chronic pain, specifically memory function and sensory mapping. Findings could provide early evidence to support broader applications of PNE beyond movement-related outcomes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

50

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18 and above
  • Chronic pain > 1 year
  • Provide written consent
  • Proficient in reading and understanding English

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not willing to participate in the study
  • Have received PNE as a treatment before

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) Intervention
Participants will receive a standardized Pain Neuroscience Education session lasting 10 to 15 minutes, delivered by a clinician trained in advanced pain science. This educational intervention uses metaphors, examples, and images to teach patients about the biology of pain, aiming to reduce pain catastrophizing and improve cognitive and sensory outcomes.
Behavioral: Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE)
A 10-15 minute individualized educational session focusing on the neuroscience of pain. The session aims to reconceptualize the patient's understanding of their chronic pain by explaining the underlying biological, cognitive, and emotional mechanisms involved. Clinicians use a standardized checklist of metaphors and teaching tools tailored to the patient's clinical presentation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Memory Function (Montreal Cognitive Assessment - MoCA)
Time Frame: At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session
Description: Change in MoCA score to assess improvement or decline in cognitive function, particularly memory, associated with chronic pain. The MoCA is scored out of 30; a change of 2 points or more is considered clinically meaningful.
At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session
Sensory Awareness (Body Chart Pain Area - Grid Overlay Count)
Time Frame: At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session
Change in the number of grid blocks marked on the body pain chart to quantify alteration in perceived pain area, reflecting somatosensory representation changes.
At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Self-Reported Pain Intensity (Numeric Pain Rating Scale - NPRS)
Time Frame: At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session
Change in pain intensity reported by the patient on an 11-point scale (0-10). The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) is 1.7 points.
At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session
Pain Catastrophization (Pain Catastrophization Scale - PCS)
Time Frame: At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session
Change in PCS scores assessing catastrophic thinking related to pain on a 13-item, 5-point Likert scale. Higher scores indicate greater catastrophizing.
At baseline (prior to the pain neuroscience education session) and immediately after completion of the treatment session

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Demographic and Clinical Characteristics
Time Frame: Baseline, pre-intervention
Age, gender, ethnicity, pain location, pain duration, family history of pain, presence of memory loss, and spreading of pain since onset.
Baseline, pre-intervention
Clinician Checklist
Time Frame: Immediately after intervention
Clinician-reported pain phenotype, diagnosis, metaphors used during PNE, and rating of therapeutic alliance to explore potential influences on intervention effectiveness
Immediately after intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Evidence In Motion

Collaborators

University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Southwest Baptist University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Adriaan Louw, PT, PhD, Evidence in Motion

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

November 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 18, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 24, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

November 26, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 26, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 24, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PNEMEMORY202510

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Sharing IPD requires time, personnel, infrastructure, and data curation, which might not be feasible due to funding or staffing limitations. In addition, the informed consent documents do not include a provision for IPD sharing.

Participants have not agreed to data sharing beyond the original study purpose.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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