• Paul A Boakye, Camille Olechowski, Saifudin Rashiq, Michelle J Verrier, Bradley Kerr, Manisha Witmans, Glen Baker, Anthony Joyce, and Bruce D Dick.
• *Centre for Neuroscience †Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine ‡School of Dentistry §Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada.
• Clin J Pain. 2016 Apr 1; 32 (4): 327-36.

Aims/Objectives/BackgroundA significant number of people who experience chronic pain also complain of depression and sleep problems. The comorbidities and bidirectional relationships that exist between these ailments are well recognized clinically. Further, all 3 disorders involve similar alterations in structural and functional neurobiology and share common pathophysiological mechanisms. We sought to comprehensively review the research literature regarding common neurobiological factors associated with these complex clinical disorders in order to better understand how they are related and provide further rationale for future clinical and research efforts to appropriately understand and manage them.MethodsA comprehensive review of the existing research literature was conducted in the domains of chronic pain, depression, and sleep.ResultsAlthough the neurobiological underpinnings of these factors are complex and require further investigation, comparable changes are seen in levels of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine), proinflammatory cytokines, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and other transmitters in these disorders.ConclusionsThis review is unique as it attempts to cast a broader net over the common neurobiological correlates that exist across these 3 conditions. It highlights the complexity of the interrelationships between these disorders and the importance of increasing our understanding of neurobiological factors associated with them.

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