Abdominal pain in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A review of putative psychological, neural and neuro-immune mechanisms

► Pain evaluation is altered in IBS, irrespective of visceral pain thresholds. ► Negative emotions and expectations play an important role in pain evaluation. ► Pain processing in IBS is mediated by functional and structural brain changes. ► Peripheral neuroendocrine and immune pathways are also relevant in IBS. ► Studies on afferent immune-to-brain communication in visceral pain are needed.