  We use the linear sigma model with quarks to find the magnetic field-induced
modifications to the neutral pion mass at one-loop level. The magnetic field
effects are introduced by using charged particle propagators in the presence of
a magnetic background in the strong field regime. We show that when accounting
for the effects of the magnetic field on the model couplings, the vacuum sigma
field and the neutral pion self-energy, the neutral pion mass decreases
monotonically as a function of the field strength. We find an excellent
qualitative and quantitative agreement with recent lattice QCD calculations,
reproducing the monotonically decreasing trend with the field strength as well
as the decrease when lattice data approaches the physical vacuum pion mass from
larger values.
