Shifting Away From Pain: a Neurocognitive Approach in Treatment of Whiplash

CWAD group: Inclusion Criteria: * Experienced a whiplash trauma which is at least 3 months old and causes pain since at least 3 months, with pain experience with a mean pain frequency of 3 or more days per week, and with self-reported moderate to severe pain-related disability, established by a score of 15 or more of a maximum of 50 on the Neck Disability Index * Patients classified as WAD II or WAD III on the modified Quebec Task Force Scale * Native Dutch speaker * Not starting new treatments or medication and continuing their usual care 6 weeks prior to and during study participation (to obtain a steady state) * Refraining from consuming caffeine, alcohol and nicotine in the hour before the MRI scans (in both measurement times: before the start of the rehabilitation and after the end of the rehabilitation). Exclusion Criteria: * Neuropathic pain * Being pregnant or having given birth in the preceding year * Chronic fatigue syndrome * Fibromyalgia * Cardiovascular disorders * Epilepsy * Endocrinological disorders * Rheumatic disorders * Psychiatric disorders * History of neck surgery * Loss of consciousness during/after the whiplash trauma * MRI incompatible health condition (e.g., pacemaker, metal prosthetic devices) * Psychiatric condition and ongoing medication that would alter emotional or sensory processing * Claustrophobia. Healthy volunteers: (matched for age and gender). Additional exclusion criteria include for healthy volunteers * a history of a chronic pain syndrome * a pain condition in the last six months for which treatment was sought