Good Life Project How to Unlearn Pain: Groundbreaking Research Offers Hope | Yoni K. Ashar
Feb 2, 2026
Yoni K. Ashar, a neuroscientist and clinical psychologist who studies brain mechanisms of chronic pain, explains why pain can persist after injury. He discusses how pain can be brain-driven, signs of neuroplastic pain, Pain Reprocessing Therapy basics, graded exposure to retrain safety, and how meaning and purpose influence recovery.
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Chronic Pain Shifts To Meaning Centers
- Pain can shift from sensory regions to emotion and meaning centers as acute pain becomes chronic.
- This neural migration shows chronic pain becomes a learned brain pattern sustaining itself.
Look For Signs Of Neuroplastic Pain
- Ask whether your pain moves, fluctuates day-to-day, or began during stressful life events to spot neuroplastic pain.
- Use these signs to consider treatments targeting the brain rather than solely the body.
Break The Pain–Threat Cycle With Safety
- Break the pain–threat cycle by creating safety perceptions in the brain through targeted work.
- Replace threat responses with safety learning to reduce the brain's need to produce pain.