This prospective cohort study investigates the neurobiological, genetic, and psychosocial mechanisms underlying acute and chronic low back pain (LBP). Core objectives include establishing a high-quality biobank to support future research in connectomics, genomics, and biomarker discovery, and identifying predictors of pain progression and treatment response.
The study will also assess the impact of comorbid conditions such as anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbances on pain perception and clinical outcomes. Longitudinal analyses will explore the dynamic interplay between emotion, cognition, sleep, and pain to inform precision, mechanism-based interventions.
Functional imaging will be used to examine brain responses to nociceptive modulation, aiming to identify neural circuits involved in pain chronification. By integrating multimodal data-including neuroimaging, neurophysiology, microbiota profiling, polysomnography, and molecular assays-the study will define LBP subtypes, with a particular focus on nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic mechanisms. The ultimate goal is to establish prognostic biomarkers and advance personalized strategies for LBP prevention and treatment.