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German neuroscientist Professor Herta Flor told an international brain conference in Melbourne yesterday that many people suffering from chronic pain can ease their ache by simply changing the way they think about it.

And spouses of people who suffer from pain can also help by not "hovering" over their partners and providing undue attention to the problem, Prof Flor, from the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannhei, said.

New scientific evidence has shown that the human brain has the ability to reorganise in areas that previously were thought to be "hard wired".

"Pain is a protective system to warn us of imminent danger but as a data processing system it is prone to errors," Prof Flor said.

"That's why some amputees still feel phantom limb pain.

"It is also why people who suffer an injury when playing sport will only acknowledge pain after the game has ended."

She said in many states of pain, the actual impact on the nervous system was long gone but the experience was often memorised and reactivated.

"By learning to distract themselves from pain, a new memory can be built among people who otherwise are quite dysfunctional and overwhelmed by their painful experiences," Prof Flor said.

In other words, changing the way you think about pain made the hurt less painful, she said.

Her studies involving chronic pain sufferers have shown that about 30 per cent cope well because of physical activity and positive attitudes.

"Among this group, we found that spouses do not respond as much to the attention-grabbing nature of pain," Prof Flor said.

"They tend not to hover so much over their partners."

But the partners of people impaired by pain tend to focus on them a lot, she said.

"These people profit a lot from behavioural training with support from their regular doctors and specialist psychologists," Prof Flor said.

"It is about providing a focus on all the things outside the pain problem and not giving it undeserving attention."

While medication cannot be eliminated among chronic pain sufferers, it can be limited by applying the power of positive thought, she told the gathering of 2300 delegates.