The incidence and prevalence of chronic pain is rapidly increasing with population growth and aging and is a worldwide health concern. In addition, chronic pain represents a health and socioeconomic burden for patients, relatives, and the healthcare system. This is because chronic pain patients usually have psychiatric comorbidities such as anxiety, depression, and stress, amongst other comorbidities.

Although clinicians and researchers intend to overcome the difficulties in treating and managing pain conditions as well as associated comorbidities, they have to face the enormous challenge of pain becoming a chronic condition in today´s society. Various international organizations including the World Health Organization and the International Association for the Study of Pain have emphasized the need to conduct further research within this field in order to improve the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of chronic pain disorders. This is with the aim of creating a positive impact within the healthcare system including reducing associated chronic pain-costs, optimizing intervention strategies and improving patient quality of life. With this in mind and with the particular aim of reducing the prevalence of chronic pain associated with aging, prevention is of vital importance. In order to design prevention programs, an integrative approach of the neuropsychological, clinical and emotional correlates of chronic pain may be required.

This Special Issue seeks to increase the knowledge-base in the neuroscience of chronic pain and related symptoms, to make contributions to improve the health-related quality of life of chronic pain patients and to promote prevention strategies based on this. Researchers in the field of chronic pain are encouraged to submit original research or review articles to this Special Issue.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Advances in neuropsychological research in chronic pain patients
• Neuropsychiatry disorders and chronic pain
• Associations between clinical, emotional and neuropsychological factors in chronic pain populations
• Neuroimaging studies in chronic pain patients (functional magnetic resonance, functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography.…)
• Neurobiological correlates of neuropsychological, clinical and emotional symptoms of chronic pain
• Comparison of neuropsychological, clinical and emotional symptoms in different chronic pain disorders
• Methodological advances in neuropsychological, clinical and emotional assessment of chronic pain
• Neuropsychological, clinical and emotional symptoms as a potential therapeutic target for chronic pain
• Inflammation mechanisms of action upon the central nervous system in chronic pain
• Associations between cognitive disorders such as dementia and delirium and chronic pain