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Scheliga S, Dohrn MF, Kellermann T, Lampert A, Rolke R, Namer B, Peschke GZ, van den Braak N, Lischka A, Spehr M, Jo HG, Habel U. Painful stimulation increases functional connectivity between supplementary motor area and thalamus in patients with small fibre neuropathy. Eur J Pain 2024. [PMID: 39193929 DOI: 10.1002/ejp.4720] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2024] [Revised: 07/24/2024] [Accepted: 08/13/2024] [Indexed: 08/29/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The lead symptom of small fibre neuropathy (SFN) is neuropathic pain. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have indicated central changes in SFN patients of different etiologies. However, less is known about brain functional connectivity during acute pain processing in idiopathic SFN. METHODS We conducted fMRI with thermal heat pain application (left volar forearm) in 32 idiopathic SFN patients and 31 healthy controls. We performed functional connectivity analyses with right supplementary motor area (SMA), left insula, and left caudate nucleus (CN) as seed regions, respectively. Since pathogenic gain-of-function variants in voltage gated sodium channels (Nav) have been linked to SFN pathophysiology, explorative connectivity analyses were performed in a homogenous subsample of patients carrying rare heterozygous missense variants. RESULTS For right SMA, we found significantly higher connectivity with the right thalamus in SFN patients compared to controls. This connectivity correlated significantly with intraepidermal nerve fibre density, suggesting a link between peripheral and central pain processing. We found significantly reduced connections between right SMA and right middle frontal gyrus in patients with Nav variants. Likewise, connectivity between left CN and right frontal pole was decreased. CONCLUSIONS Aberrant functional connectivity in SFN is in line with previous research on other chronic pain syndromes. Functional connectivity changes may be linked to SFN, highlighting the need to determine if they result from peripheral changes causing abnormal somatosensory processing. This understanding may be crucial for assessing their impact on painful symptoms and therapy response. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We found increased functional connectivity between SMA and thalamus during painful stimulation in patients with idiopathic SFN. Connectivity correlated significantly with intraepidermal nerve fibre density, suggesting a link between peripheral and central pain processing. Our findings emphasize the importance of investigating functional connectivity changes as a potential feature of SFN.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Scheliga
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Maike F Dohrn
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Thilo Kellermann
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine: JARA-Institute Brain Structure Function Relationship (INM 10), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straβe, Jülich, Germany
| | - Angelika Lampert
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Roman Rolke
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Palliative Medicine, Medical Faculty RWTH, Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Barbara Namer
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Neurophysiology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Research Group Neuroscience, Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Greta Z Peschke
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Nortje van den Braak
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Annette Lischka
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute for Human Genetics and Genomic Medicine, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
| | - Marc Spehr
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Chemosensation, RWTH Aachen University, Institute for Biology II, Aachen, Germany
| | - Han-Gue Jo
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- School of Computer Science & Engineering, Kunsan National University, Gunsan, Republic of Korea
| | - Ute Habel
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Scientific Center for Neuropathic Pain Aachen, SCNAachen, Uniklinik RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine: JARA-Institute Brain Structure Function Relationship (INM 10), Research Center Jülich, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straβe, Jülich, Germany
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Liu X, Wei S, Zhao X, Bi Y, Hu L. Establishing the relationship between subjective perception and neural responses: Insights from correlation analysis and representational similarity analysis. Neuroimage 2024; 295:120650. [PMID: 38768740 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Revised: 05/12/2024] [Accepted: 05/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Exploring the relationship between sensory perception and brain responses holds important theoretical and clinical implications. However, commonly used methodologies like correlation analysis performed either intra- or inter- individually often yield inconsistent results across studies, limiting their generalizability. Representational similarity analysis (RSA), a method that assesses the perception-response relationship by calculating the correlation between behavioral and neural patterns, may offer a fresh perspective to reveal novel findings. Here, we delivered a series of graded sensory stimuli of four modalities (i.e., nociceptive somatosensory, non-nociceptive somatosensory, visual, and auditory) to/near the left or right hand of 107 healthy subjects and collected their single-trial perceptual ratings and electroencephalographic (EEG) responses. We examined the relationship between sensory perception and brain responses using within- and between-subject correlation analysis and RSA, and assessed their stability across different numbers of subjects and trials. We found that within-subject and between-subject correlations yielded distinct results: within-subject correlation revealed strong and reliable correlations between perceptual ratings and most brain responses, while between-subject correlation showed weak correlations that were vulnerable to the change of subject number. In addition to verifying the correlation results, RSA revealed some novel findings, i.e., correlations between behavioral and neural patterns were observed in some additional neural responses, such as "γ-ERS" in the visual modality. RSA results were sensitive to the trial number, but not to the subject number, suggesting that consistent results could be obtained for studies with relatively small sample sizes. In conclusion, our study provides a novel perspective on establishing the relationship between behavior and brain activity, emphasizing that RSA holds promise as a method for exploring this pattern relationship in future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xu Liu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Shiyu Wei
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiangyue Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yanzhi Bi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
| | - Li Hu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, 100101, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
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3
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Zhang H, Zhao L, Lu X, Peng W, Zhang L, Zhang Z, Hu L, Cao J, Tu Y. Multimodal covarying brain patterns mediate genetic and psychological contributions to individual differences in pain sensitivity. Pain 2024; 165:1074-1085. [PMID: 37943083 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Individuals vary significantly in their pain sensitivity, with contributions from the brain, genes, and psychological factors. However, a multidimensional model integrating these factors is lacking due to their complex interactions. To address this, we measured pain sensitivity (ie, pain threshold and pain tolerance) using the cold pressor test, collected magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data and genetic data, and evaluated psychological factors (ie, pain catastrophizing, pain-related fear, and pain-related anxiety) from 450 healthy participants with both sexes (160 male, 290 female). Using multimodal MRI fusion methods, we identified 2 pairs of covarying structural and functional brain patterns associated with pain threshold and tolerance, respectively. These patterns primarily involved regions related to self-awareness, sensory-discriminative, cognitive-evaluative, motion preparation and execution, and emotional aspects of pain. Notably, pain catastrophizing was negatively correlated with pain tolerance, and this relationship was mediated by the multimodal covarying brain patterns in male participants only. Furthermore, we identified an association between the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs4141964 within the fatty acid amide hydrolase gene and pain threshold, mediated by the identified multimodal covarying brain patterns across all participants. In summary, we suggested a model that integrates the brain, genes, and psychological factors to elucidate their role in shaping interindividual variations in pain sensitivity, highlighting the important contribution of the multimodal covarying brain patterns as important biological mediators in the associations between genes/psychological factors and pain sensitivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huijuan Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Lei Zhao
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xuejing Lu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Weiwei Peng
- School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Li Zhang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Medical School, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhiguo Zhang
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen, China
- Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Li Hu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Jin Cao
- School of Life Sciences, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
| | - Yiheng Tu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
- Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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4
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Hong J, Li JN, Wu FL, Bao SY, Sun HX, Zhu KH, Cai ZP, Li F, Li YQ. Projections from anteromedial thalamus nucleus to the midcingulate cortex mediate pain and anxiety-like behaviors in mice. Neurochem Int 2023; 171:105640. [PMID: 37951541 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2023.105640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
Prior research has demonstrated the involvement of the midcingulate cortex (MCC) and its downstream pathway in pain regulation. However, the mechanism via which pain information is conveyed to the MCC remains unclear. The present study utilized immunohistochemistry, chemogenetics, optogenetics, and behavior detection methods to explore the involvement of MCC, anteromedial thalamus nucleus (AM), and AM-MCC pathway in pain and emotional regulation. Chemogenetics or optogenetics methods were employed to activate/inhibit MCCCaMKIIα, AMCaMKIIα, AMCaMKIIα-MCC pathway. This manipulation evokes/relieves mechanical and partial heat hyperalgesia, as well as anxiety-like behaviors. In the complete Freund,s adjuvant (CFA) inflammatory pain model, chemogenetic inhibition of the AMCaMKIIα-MCCCaMKIIα pathway contributed to pain relief. Notably, this study presented the first evidence implicating the AM in the regulation of nociception and negative emotions. Additionally, it was observed that the MCC primarily receives projections from the AM, highlighting the crucial role of this pathway in the transmission of pain and emotional information.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jie Hong
- Department of Human Anatomy, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, 014040, China; Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China
| | - Jia-Ni Li
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China
| | - Feng-Ling Wu
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Department of Human Anatomy, College of Preclinical Medical Sciences, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China
| | - Shang-Yi Bao
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China
| | - Han-Xue Sun
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Department of Human Anatomy, The School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350122, China
| | - Ke-Hua Zhu
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Institute of Medical Research, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an, 710072, China
| | - Zhi-Ping Cai
- Department of Human Anatomy, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, 014040, China
| | - Fei Li
- Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
| | - Yun-Qing Li
- Department of Human Anatomy, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, 014040, China; Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and K. K. Leung Brain Research Centre, The Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China; Department of Anatomy, Basic Medical College, Dali University, Dali, 671000, China.
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5
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Lee S, Cheong Y, Ryu Y, Kosaka H, Jung M. Vasotocin receptor gene genotypes moderate the relationship between cortical thickness and sensory processing. Transl Psychiatry 2023; 13:356. [PMID: 37990008 PMCID: PMC10663457 DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02657-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory processing is the process by which the central nervous system gathers, interprets, and regulates sensory stimuli in response to environmental cues. However, our understanding of the genetic factors and neuroanatomical correlations that influence sensory processing is limited. The vasotocin system modulates sensory input responsiveness, making it a potential candidate for further investigation. Additionally, human neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that the ability to modulate sensory stimuli is related to neuroanatomical features such as cortical thickness. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the relationship between functional polymorphisms in vasotocin receptor (VTR) genes, sensory profiles, and neuroanatomical correlations. We used structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP) questionnaire in 98 healthy adult participants to assess sensory processing and identified seven single nucleotide polymorphisms. We found that A-allele carriers of rs1042615 in VTR had higher scores for "sensory sensitivity" and "sensation avoiding". Moreover, higher scores for three AASP subscales were associated with decreased cortical thickness in various regions, including the right precentral, paracentral, and fusiform gyri, as well as bilateral inferior temporal gyri. This study sheds light on the potential role of genetic variations in the VTR in modulating sensory processing and correlation with cortical thickness which has future implications for better understanding sensory abnormalities in neurodevelopmental disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seonkyoung Lee
- Cognitive Science Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Yongjeon Cheong
- Cognitive Science Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Yeseul Ryu
- Cognitive Science Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, Republic of Korea
| | - Hirotaka Kosaka
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Fukui, Japan.
- Division of Developmental Higher Brain Functions, United Graduate School of Child Development, University of Fukui, Eiheiji, Japan.
| | - Minyoung Jung
- Cognitive Science Research Group, Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, Republic of Korea.
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Kotikalapudi R, Kincses B, Zunhammer M, Schlitt F, Asan L, Schmidt-Wilcke T, Kincses ZT, Bingel U, Spisak T. Brain morphology predicts individual sensitivity to pain: a multicenter machine learning approach. Pain 2023; 164:2516-2527. [PMID: 37318027 PMCID: PMC10578427 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2022] [Revised: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Sensitivity to pain shows a remarkable interindividual variance that has been reported to both forecast and accompany various clinical pain conditions. Although pain thresholds have been reported to be associated to brain morphology, it is still unclear how well these findings replicate in independent data and whether they are powerful enough to provide reliable pain sensitivity predictions on the individual level. In this study, we constructed a predictive model of pain sensitivity (as measured with pain thresholds) using structural magnetic resonance imaging-based cortical thickness data from a multicentre data set (3 centres and 131 healthy participants). Cross-validated estimates revealed a statistically significant and clinically relevant predictive performance (Pearson r = 0.36, P < 0.0002, R2 = 0.13). The predictions were found to be specific to physical pain thresholds and not biased towards potential confounding effects (eg, anxiety, stress, depression, centre effects, and pain self-evaluation). Analysis of model coefficients suggests that the most robust cortical thickness predictors of pain sensitivity are the right rostral anterior cingulate gyrus, left parahippocampal gyrus, and left temporal pole. Cortical thickness in these regions was negatively correlated to pain sensitivity. Our results can be considered as a proof-of-concept for the capacity of brain morphology to predict pain sensitivity, paving the way towards future multimodal brain-based biomarkers of pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raviteja Kotikalapudi
- Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Balint Kincses
- Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioural Sciences, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Matthias Zunhammer
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioural Sciences, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Frederik Schlitt
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioural Sciences, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Livia Asan
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioural Sciences, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Tobias Schmidt-Wilcke
- Institute for Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Neurocenter, District Hospital Mainkofen, Deggendorf, Germany
| | - Zsigmond T. Kincses
- Departments of Neurology and
- Radiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Ulrike Bingel
- Department of Neurology, Center for Translational Neuro- and Behavioural Sciences, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Tamas Spisak
- Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Essen, Essen, Germany
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Szabo E, Ashina S, Melo-Carrillo A, Bolo NR, Borsook D, Burstein R. Peripherally acting anti-CGRP monoclonal antibodies alter cortical gray matter thickness in migraine patients: A prospective cohort study. Neuroimage Clin 2023; 40:103531. [PMID: 37866119 PMCID: PMC10623369 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2023] [Revised: 10/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/13/2023] [Indexed: 10/24/2023]
Abstract
Migraine is underpinned by central nervous system neuroplastic alterations thought to be caused by the repetitive peripheral afferent barrage the brain receives during the headache phase (cortical hyperexcitability). Calcitonin gene-related peptide monoclonal antibodies (anti-CGRP-mAbs) are highly effective migraine preventative treatments. Their ability to alter brain morphometry in treatment-responders vs. non-responders is not well understood. Our aim was to determine the effects of the anti-CGRP-mAb galcanezumab on cortical thickness after 3-month treatment of patients with high-frequency episodic or chronic migraine. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging was performed pre- and post-treatment in 36 migraine patients. In this group, 19 patients were classified responders (≥50 % reduction in monthly migraine days) and 17 were considered non-responders (<50 % reduction in monthly migraine days). Following cross-sectional processing to analyze the baseline differences in cortical thickness, two-stage longitudinal processing and symmetrized percent change were conducted to investigate treatment-related brain changes. At baseline, no significant differences were found between the responders and non-responders. After 3-month treatment, decreased cortical thickness (compared to baseline) was observed in the responders in regions of the somatosensory cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, medial frontal cortex, superior frontal gyrus, and supramarginal gyrus. Non-responders demonstrated decreased cortical thickness in the left dorsomedial cortex and superior frontal gyrus. We interpret the cortical thinning seen in the responder group as suggesting that reduction in head pain could lead to changes in neural swelling and dendritic complexity and that such changes reflect the recovery process from maladaptive neural activity. This conclusion is further supported by our recent study showing that 3 months after treatment initiation, the incidence of premonitory symptoms and prodromes that are followed by headache decreases but not the incidence of the premonitory symptoms or prodromes themselves (that is, cortical thinning relates to reductions in the nociceptive signals in the responders). We speculate that a much longer recovery period is required to allow the brain to return to a more 'normal' functioning state whereby prodromes and premonitory symptoms no longer occur.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edina Szabo
- Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Anaesthesiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Sait Ashina
- Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Anaesthesiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Comprehensive Headache Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Agustin Melo-Carrillo
- Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Anaesthesiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Nicolas R Bolo
- Department of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - David Borsook
- Department of Anaesthesiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Rami Burstein
- Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Department of Anaesthesiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215, USA; Comprehensive Headache Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
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8
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Cormie MA, Kaya B, Hadjis GE, Mouseli P, Moayedi M. Insula-cingulate structural and functional connectivity: an ultra-high field MRI study. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:9787-9801. [PMID: 37429832 PMCID: PMC10656949 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/17/2023] [Indexed: 07/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The insula and the cingulate are key brain regions with many heterogenous functions. Both regions are consistently shown to play integral roles in the processing of affective, cognitive, and interoceptive stimuli. The anterior insula (aINS) and the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) are two key hubs of the salience network (SN). Beyond the aINS and aMCC, previous 3 Tesla (T) magnetic resonance imaging studies have suggested both structural connectivity (SC) and functional connectivity (FC) between other insular and cingulate subregions. Here, we investigate the SC and FC between insula and cingulate subregions using ultra-high field 7T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). DTI revealed strong SC between posterior INS (pINS) and posterior MCC (pMCC), and rs-fMRI revealed strong FC between the aINS and aMCC that was not supported by SC, indicating the likelihood of a mediating structure. Finally, the insular pole had the strongest SC to all cingulate subregions, with a slight preference for the pMCC, indicative of a potential relay node of the insula. Together these finding shed new light on the understanding of insula-cingulate functioning, both within the SN and other cortical processes, through a lens of its SC and FC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Cormie
- Centre for Multimodal Sensorimotor and Pain Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Batu Kaya
- Centre for Multimodal Sensorimotor and Pain Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Georgia E Hadjis
- Centre for Multimodal Sensorimotor and Pain Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Pedram Mouseli
- Centre for Multimodal Sensorimotor and Pain Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Massieh Moayedi
- Centre for Multimodal Sensorimotor and Pain Research, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
- University of Toronto Centre for the Study of Pain, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Department of Dentistry, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada
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9
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Lee SE, Shin H, Kim G, Moon H, Hur JW. Decreased gray matter volume in regions associated with affective pain processing in unmedicated individuals with nonsuicidal self-injury. Psychiatry Res 2023; 326:115314. [PMID: 37406398 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2023] [Revised: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023]
Abstract
Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) has been consistently associated with a reduced aversion to physical pain. Yet, little research has been done to investigate the brain structures related to pain in individuals with NSSI. This study examined gray matter volume patterns of pain processing regions in participants engaging in NSSI (n = 63) and age-, sex-, and handedness-matched healthy controls (n = 63). Voxel-based morphometry was performed to explore gray matter volume in regions of interest (ROIs) and partial correlation analyses were conducted to identify their associations with the frequency, versatility, duration, functions, and pain intensity of self-injury. As a result, significant volume decreases were found in the right anterior insula, bilateral secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), and left inferior frontal gyrus. Moreover, individuals with smaller anterior insula and SII volume showed a higher likelihood of endorsing affect-regulation and sensation-seeking functions of NSSI, as well as engaging in self-injury with a greater perceived intensity of pain. Our results provide the first empirical evidence that individuals with NSSI may exhibit distinct characteristics in brain regions associated with the affective component of pain processing. These neurobiological changes may be associated with their maladaptive response to noxious and painful NSSI experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soo-Eun Lee
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyemin Shin
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Gyumyoung Kim
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyeri Moon
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Ji-Won Hur
- School of Psychology, Korea University, 145 Anam-ro, Seoul, South Korea.
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10
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Morellini L, Izzo A, Celeghin A, Palermo S, Morese R. Sensory processing sensitivity and social pain: a hypothesis and theory. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1135440. [PMID: 37388415 PMCID: PMC10303917 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1135440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 05/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Sensory-processing sensitivity (SPS) defined, as a personality trait, seems to be characterized by emotional sensitivity, and stronger reactivity to both external and internal stimuli. SPS can represent a risk factor for developing clinical conditions during childhood and adolescence. This personality trait is not to be considered a pathological clinical condition, however, can expose to greater environmental vulnerability. In particular, the recent studies about SPS can be contextualized to social situations that evoke traumatic and stressful emotional responses such as social exclusion. We hypothesize that highly sensitive people (HSP) are more vulnerable to social exclusion and social pain. This hypothesis could help structure new educational and intervention models designed to improve coping strategies and promote HSP's psychophysical and social well-being.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucia Morellini
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
| | - Alessia Izzo
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
| | | | - Sara Palermo
- Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- Neuroradiology Unit, Diagnostic and Technology Department, Fondazione Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan, Italy
| | - Rosalba Morese
- Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
- Faculty of Communication, Culture and Society, Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
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11
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Branco P, Bosak N, Bielefeld J, Cong O, Granovsky Y, Kahn I, Yarnitsky D, Apkarian AV. Structural brain connectivity predicts early acute pain after mild traumatic brain injury. Pain 2023; 164:1312-1320. [PMID: 36355048 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2022] [Accepted: 10/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a leading cause of disability worldwide, with acute pain manifesting as one of its most debilitating symptoms. Understanding acute postinjury pain is important because it is a strong predictor of long-term outcomes. In this study, we imaged the brains of 157 patients with mTBI, following a motorized vehicle collision. We extracted white matter structural connectivity networks and used a machine learning approach to predict acute pain. Stronger white matter tracts within the sensorimotor, thalamiccortical, and default-mode systems predicted 20% of the variance in pain severity within 72 hours of the injury. This result generalized in 2 independent groups: 39 mTBI patients and 13 mTBI patients without whiplash symptoms. White matter measures collected at 6 months after the collision still predicted mTBI pain at that timepoint (n = 36). These white matter connections were associated with 2 nociceptive psychophysical outcomes tested at a remote body site-namely, conditioned pain modulation and magnitude of suprathreshold pain-and with pain sensitivity questionnaire scores. Our findings demonstrate a stable white matter network, the properties of which determine an important amount of pain experienced after acute injury, pinpointing a circuitry engaged in the transformation and amplification of nociceptive inputs to pain perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paulo Branco
- Department of Neuroscience, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Center for Translational Pain Research, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Noam Bosak
- Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Neurology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
| | - Jannis Bielefeld
- Department of Neuroscience, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Center for Translational Pain Research, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Olivia Cong
- Department of Neuroscience, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Center for Translational Pain Research, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
| | - Yelena Granovsky
- Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Neurology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
| | - Itamar Kahn
- Department of Neuroscience and Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
| | - David Yarnitsky
- Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
- Department of Neurology, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel
| | - A Vania Apkarian
- Department of Neuroscience, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
- Center for Translational Pain Research, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, United States
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12
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Gray matter volume and pain tolerance in a general population: the Tromsø study. Pain 2023:00006396-990000000-00257. [PMID: 36877481 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002871] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/07/2023]
Abstract
ABSTRACT As pain is processed by an extensive network of brain regions, the structural status of the brain may affect pain perception. We aimed to study the association between gray matter volume (GMV) and pain sensitivity in a general population. We used data from 1522 participants in the seventh wave of the Tromsø study, who had completed the cold pressor test (3°C, maximum time 120 seconds), undergone magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, and had complete information on covariates. Cox proportional hazards regression models were fitted with time to hand withdrawal from cold exposure as outcome. Gray matter volume was the independent variable, and analyses were adjusted for intracranial volume, age, sex, education level, and cardiovascular risk factors. Additional adjustment was made for chronic pain and depression in subsamples with available information on the respective item. FreeSurfer was used to estimate vertexwise cortical and subcortical gray matter volumes from the T1-weighted MR image. Post hoc analyses were performed on cortical and subcortical volume estimates. Standardized total GMV was associated with risk of hand withdrawal (hazard ratio [HR] 0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.71-0.93). The effect remained significant after additional adjustment for chronic pain (HR 0.84, 95% CI 0.72-0.97) or depression (HR 0.82, 95% CI 0.71-0.94). In post hoc analyses, positive associations between standardized GMV and pain tolerance were seen in most brain regions, with larger effect sizes in regions previously shown to be associated with pain. In conclusion, our findings indicate that larger GMV is associated with longer pain tolerance in the general population.
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13
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Onishi H, Nagasaka K, Yokota H, Kojima S, Ohno K, Sakurai N, Kodama N, Sato D, Otsuru N. Association between somatosensory sensitivity and regional gray matter volume in healthy young volunteers: a voxel-based morphometry study. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:2001-2010. [PMID: 35580840 PMCID: PMC9977372 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Two-point discrimination (2PD) test reflects somatosensory spatial discrimination ability, but evidence on the relationship between 2PD and cortical gray matter (GM) volume is limited. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between cortical GM volume and 2PD threshold in young healthy individuals and to clarify the characteristics of brain structure reflecting the individual differences in somatosensory function. 2PD was measured in 42 healthy (20 females) volunteers aged 20-32 years using a custom-made test system that can be controlled by a personal computer. The 2PD of the right index finger measured with this device has been confirmed to show good reproducibility. T1-weighted images were acquired using a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging scanner for voxel-based morphometry analysis. The mean 2PD threshold was 2.58 ± 0.54 mm. Whole-brain multiple regression analysis of the relationship between 2PD and GM volume showed that a lower 2PD threshold (i.e. better somatosensory function) significantly correlated with decreased GM volume from the middle temporal gyrus to the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) in the contralateral hemisphere. In conclusion, a lower GM volume in the middle temporal gyrus and IPL correlates with better somatosensory function. Thus, cortical GM volume may be a biomarker of somatosensory function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hideaki Onishi
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Kazuaki Nagasaka
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Hirotake Yokota
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Sho Kojima
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Ken Ohno
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Radiological Technology, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Noriko Sakurai
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Radiological Technology, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Naoki Kodama
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Radiological Technology, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Daisuke Sato
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Health and Sports, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
| | - Naofumi Otsuru
- Institute for Human Movement and Medical Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398 Shimami-cho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan.,Department of Physical Therapy, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata City, Niigata 950-3198, Japan
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14
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Lee LC, Chen YY, Li WC, Yang CJ, Liu CH, Low I, Chao HT, Chen LF, Hsieh JC. Adaptive neuroplasticity in the default mode network contributing to absence of central sensitization in primary dysmenorrhea. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1094988. [PMID: 36845415 PMCID: PMC9947468 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1094988] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Primary dysmenorrhea (PDM), the most prevalent gynecological problem among women of reproductive age, presents as a regular pattern of cyclic menstrual pain. The presence or absence of central sensitization (i.e., pain hypersensitivity) in cases of PDM is a contentious issue. Among Caucasians, the presence of dysmenorrhea is associated with pain hypersensitivity throughout the menstrual cycle, indicating pain amplification mediated by the central nervous system. We previously reported on the absence of central sensitization to thermal pain among Asian PDM females. In this study, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to reveal mechanisms underlying pain processing with the aim of explaining the absence of central sensitization in this population. Methods Brain responses to noxious heat applied to the left inner forearm of 31 Asian PDM females and 32 controls during their menstrual and periovulatory phases were analyzed. Results and discussion Among PDM females experiencing acute menstrual pain, we observed a blunted evoked response and de-coupling of the default mode network from the noxious heat stimulus. The fact that a similar response was not observed in the non-painful periovulatory phase indicates an adaptive mechanism aimed at reducing the impact of menstrual pain on the brain with an inhibitory effect on central sensitization. Here we propose that adaptive pain responses in the default mode network may contribute to the absence of central sensitization among Asian PDM females. Variations in clinical manifestations among different PDM populations can be attributed to differences in central pain processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lin-Chien Lee
- Institute of Brain Science, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan,Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Cheng Hsin General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ya-Yun Chen
- Institute of Brain Science, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Wei-Chi Li
- Institute of Brain Science, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan,Department of Biological Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
| | - Ching-Ju Yang
- Institute of Brain Science, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ching-Hsiung Liu
- Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan,Institute of Traditional Medicine, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Department of Neurology, Lotung Poh-Ai Hospital, Yilan, Taiwan
| | - Intan Low
- Institute of Brain Science, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hsiang-Tai Chao
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Li-Fen Chen
- Institute of Brain Science, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan,Institute of Biomedical Informatics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jen-Chuen Hsieh
- Integrated Brain Research Unit, Division of Clinical Research, Department of Medical Research, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan,Department of Biological Science and Technology, College of Biological Science and Technology, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan,Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan,Center for Intelligent Drug Systems and Smart Bio-Devices, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan,*Correspondence: Jen-Chuen Hsieh,
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15
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Su Q, Li J, Chu X, Zhao R. Preoperative pain hypersensitivity is associated with axial pain after posterior cervical spinal surgeries in degenerative cervical myelopathy patients: a preliminary resting-state fMRI study. Insights Imaging 2023; 14:16. [PMID: 36690763 PMCID: PMC9871135 DOI: 10.1186/s13244-022-01332-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To test whether preoperative pain sensitivity is associated with the postoperative axial pain (PAP) in degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) and to explore its underlying brain mechanism. METHODS Clinical data and resting-state fMRI data of 62 DCM patients along with 60 age/gender matched healthy participants were collected and analysed. Voxel-wise amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was computed and compared between DCM patients and healthy controls. Correlation analyses were performed to reveal the association between the clinical metrics and brain alterations. Clinical data and ALFF were also compared between DCM patients with PAP and without PAP. RESULTS (1) Relative to healthy participants, DCM patients exhibited significantly lower preoperative pain threshold which is associated with the PAP intensity; (2) Relative to patients without PAP, PAP patients exhibited increased ALFF in mid-cingulate cortex (MCC) and lower preoperative pain threshold; (3) Further, multivariate pattern analysis revealed that MCC ALFF provide additional value for PAP vs. non-PAP classification. CONCLUSION In conclusion, our findings suggest that preoperative pain hypersensitivity may be associated with postoperative axial pain in degenerative cervical myelopathy patients. This finding may inspire new therapeutic ideas for patients with preoperative axial pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Su
- grid.411918.40000 0004 1798 6427Department of Molecular Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for China, Tianjin, 300060 China
| | - Jie Li
- grid.265021.20000 0000 9792 1228Graduate School, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, 300203 China ,grid.33763.320000 0004 1761 2484Department of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300211 China
| | - Xu Chu
- grid.43169.390000 0001 0599 1243Department of Orthopedics, Honghui Hospital, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
| | - Rui Zhao
- grid.412645.00000 0004 1757 9434Department of Orthopedics Surgery, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052 China
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16
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Niddam DM, Wu YT, Pan LLH, Chen YL, Wang SJ. Prediction of individual trigeminal pain sensitivity from gray matter structure within the sensorimotor network. Headache 2023; 63:146-155. [PMID: 36588467 DOI: 10.1111/head.14429] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 09/21/2022] [Accepted: 09/22/2022] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To determine whether multivariate pattern regression analysis based on gray matter (GM) images constrained to the sensorimotor network could accurately predict trigeminal heat pain sensitivity in healthy individuals. BACKGROUND Prediction of individual pain sensitivity is of clinical relevance as high pain sensitivity is associated with increased risks of postoperative pain, pain chronification, and a poor treatment response. However, as pain is a subjective experience accurate identification of such individuals can be difficult. GM structure of sensorimotor regions have been shown to vary with pain sensitivity. It is unclear whether GM structure within these regions can be used to predict pain sensitivity. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, structural magnetic resonance images and pain thresholds in response to contact heat stimulation of the left supraorbital area were obtained from 79 healthy participants. Voxel-based morphometry was used to extract segmented and normalized GM images. These were then constrained to a mask encompassing the functionally defined resting-state sensorimotor network. The masked images and pain thresholds entered a multivariate relevance vector regression analysis for quantitative prediction of the individual pain thresholds. The correspondence between predicted and actual pain thresholds was indexed by the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and the mean squared error (MSE). The generalizability of the model was assessed by 10-fold and 5-fold cross-validation. Non-parametric permutation tests were used to estimate significance levels. RESULTS Trigeminal heat pain sensitivity could be predicted from GM structure within the sensorimotor network with significant accuracy (10-fold: r = 0.53, p < 0.001, MSE = 10.32, p = 0.001; 5-fold: r = 0.46, p = 0.001, MSE = 10.54, p < 0.001). The resulting multivariate weight maps revealed that accurate prediction relied on multiple widespread regions within the sensorimotor network. CONCLUSION A multivariate pattern of GM structure within the sensorimotor network could be used to make accurate predictions about trigeminal heat pain sensitivity at the individual level in healthy participants. Widespread regions within the sensorimotor network contributed to the predictive model.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Niddam
- Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Neuroscience, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Brain Science, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yu-Te Wu
- Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Li-Ling Hope Pan
- Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yung-Lin Chen
- Institute of Biophotonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shuu-Jiun Wang
- Brain Research Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Neurology, The Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.,College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan
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17
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Wilson AT, Johnson AJ, Laffitte Nodarse C, Hoyos L, Lysne P, Peraza JA, Montesino-Goicolea S, Valdes-Hernandez PA, Somerville J, Bialosky JE, Cruz-Almeida Y. Experimental Pain Phenotype Profiles in Community-dwelling Older Adults. Clin J Pain 2022; 38:451-458. [PMID: 35656805 PMCID: PMC9202441 DOI: 10.1097/ajp.0000000000001048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Pain sensitivity and the brain structure are critical in modulating pain and may contribute to the maintenance of pain in older adults. However, a paucity of evidence exists investigating the link between pain sensitivity and brain morphometry in older adults. The purpose of the study was to identify pain sensitivity profiles in healthy, community-dwelling older adults using a multimodal quantitative sensory testing protocol and to differentiate profiles based on brain morphometry. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was a secondary analysis of the Neuromodulatory Examination of Pain and Mobility Across the Lifespan (NEPAL) study. Participants completed demographic and psychological questionnaires, quantitative sensory testing, and a neuroimaging session. A Principal Component Analysis with Varimax rotation followed by hierarchical cluster analysis identified 4 pain sensitivity clusters (the "pain clusters"). RESULTS Sixty-two older adults ranging from 60 to 94 years old without a specific pain condition (mean [SD] age=71.44 [6.69] y, 66.1% female) were analyzed. Four pain clusters were identified characterized by (1) thermal pain insensitivity; (2) high pinprick pain ratings and pressure pain insensitivity; (3) high thermal pain ratings and high temporal summation; and (4) thermal pain sensitivity, low thermal pain ratings, and low mechanical temporal summation. Sex differences were observed between pain clusters. Pain clusters 2 and 4 were distinguished by differences in the brain cortical volume in the parieto-occipital region. DISCUSSION While sufficient evidence exists demonstrating pain sensitivity profiles in younger individuals and in those with chronic pain conditions, the finding that subgroups of experimental pain sensitivity also exist in healthy older adults is novel. Identifying these factors in older adults may help differentiate the underlying mechanisms contributing to pain and aging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abigail T. Wilson
- University of Central Florida, School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy, College of Health Professions and Sciences, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Alisa J. Johnson
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Chavier Laffitte Nodarse
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Lorraine Hoyos
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
| | - Paige Lysne
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Julio A. Peraza
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- Department of Physics, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Soamy Montesino-Goicolea
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Pedro A. Valdes-Hernandez
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Jessie Somerville
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
| | - Joel E. Bialosky
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- University of Florida Department of Physical Therapy, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Brooks Rehabilitation-College of Public Health and Health Professions Research Collaboration, Gainesville, USA
| | - Yenisel Cruz-Almeida
- Pain Research & Intervention Center of Excellence, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Science, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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18
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Hoeppli ME, Nahman-Averbuch H, Hinkle WA, Leon E, Peugh J, Lopez-Sola M, King CD, Goldschneider KR, Coghill RC. Dissociation between individual differences in self-reported pain intensity and underlying fMRI brain activation. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3569. [PMID: 35732637 PMCID: PMC9218124 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31039-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain is an individual experience. Previous studies have highlighted changes in brain activation and morphology associated with within- and interindividual pain perception. In this study we sought to characterize brain mechanisms associated with between-individual differences in pain in a sample of healthy adolescent and adult participants (N = 101). Here we show that pain ratings varied widely across individuals and that individuals reported changes in pain evoked by small differences in stimulus intensity in a manner congruent with their pain sensitivity, further supporting the utility of subjective reporting as a measure of the true individual experience. Furthermore, brain activation related to interindividual differences in pain was not detected, despite clear sensitivity of the Blood Oxygenation Level-Dependent (BOLD) signal to small differences in noxious stimulus intensities within individuals. These findings suggest fMRI may not be a useful objective measure to infer reported pain intensity.
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Affiliation(s)
- M E Hoeppli
- Pediatric Pain Research Center (PPRC), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
- Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
| | - H Nahman-Averbuch
- Pediatric Pain Research Center (PPRC), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Clinical and Translational Research and Washington University Pain Center, Department of Anesthesiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - W A Hinkle
- Pediatric Pain Research Center (PPRC), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - E Leon
- Pediatric Pain Research Center (PPRC), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - J Peugh
- Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - M Lopez-Sola
- Serra Hunter Programme, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - C D King
- Pediatric Pain Research Center (PPRC), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - K R Goldschneider
- Pediatric Pain Research Center (PPRC), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Pain Management Center, Department of Anesthesiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - R C Coghill
- Pediatric Pain Research Center (PPRC), Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA
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19
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Berger SE, Baria AT. Assessing Pain Research: A Narrative Review of Emerging Pain Methods, Their Technosocial Implications, and Opportunities for Multidisciplinary Approaches. FRONTIERS IN PAIN RESEARCH 2022; 3:896276. [PMID: 35721658 PMCID: PMC9201034 DOI: 10.3389/fpain.2022.896276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 05/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain research traverses many disciplines and methodologies. Yet, despite our understanding and field-wide acceptance of the multifactorial essence of pain as a sensory perception, emotional experience, and biopsychosocial condition, pain scientists and practitioners often remain siloed within their domain expertise and associated techniques. The context in which the field finds itself today-with increasing reliance on digital technologies, an on-going pandemic, and continued disparities in pain care-requires new collaborations and different approaches to measuring pain. Here, we review the state-of-the-art in human pain research, summarizing emerging practices and cutting-edge techniques across multiple methods and technologies. For each, we outline foreseeable technosocial considerations, reflecting on implications for standards of care, pain management, research, and societal impact. Through overviewing alternative data sources and varied ways of measuring pain and by reflecting on the concerns, limitations, and challenges facing the field, we hope to create critical dialogues, inspire more collaborations, and foster new ideas for future pain research methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E. Berger
- Responsible and Inclusive Technologies Research, Exploratory Sciences Division, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY, United States
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20
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The thickness of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex predicts the prior-entry effect for allocentric representation in near space. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5704. [PMID: 35383294 PMCID: PMC8983760 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09837-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Neuropsychological studies have demonstrated that the preferential processing of near-space and egocentric representation is associated with the self-prioritization effect (SPE). However, relatively little is known concerning whether the SPE is superior to the representation of egocentric frames or near-space processing in the interaction between spatial reference frames and spatial domains. The present study adopted the variant of the shape-label matching task (i.e., color-label) to establish an SPE, combined with a spatial reference frame judgment task, to examine how the SPE leads to preferential processing of near-space or egocentric representations. Surface-based morphometry analysis was also adopted to extract the cortical thickness of the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) to examine whether it could predict differences in the SPE at the behavioral level. The results showed a significant SPE, manifested as the response of self-associated color being faster than that of stranger-associated color. Additionally, the SPE showed a preference for near-space processing, followed by egocentric representation. More importantly, the thickness of the vmPFC could predict the difference in the SPE on reference frames, particularly in the left frontal pole cortex and bilateral rostral anterior cingulate cortex. These findings indicated that the SPE showed a prior entry effect for information at the spatial level relative to the reference frame level, providing evidence to support the structural significance of the self-processing region.
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21
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Zou R, Li L, Zhang L, Huang G, Liang Z, Xiao L, Zhang Z. Combining Regional and Connectivity Metrics of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Individualized Prediction of Pain Sensitivity. Front Mol Neurosci 2022; 15:844146. [PMID: 35370547 PMCID: PMC8965585 DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2022.844146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Characterization and prediction of individual difference of pain sensitivity are of great importance in clinical practice. MRI techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), have been popularly used to predict an individual's pain sensitivity, but existing studies are limited by using one single imaging modality (fMRI or DTI) and/or using one type of metrics (regional or connectivity features). As a result, pain-relevant information in MRI has not been fully revealed and the associations among different imaging modalities and different features have not been fully explored for elucidating pain sensitivity. In this study, we investigated the predictive capability of multi-features (regional and connectivity metrics) of multimodal MRI (fMRI and DTI) in the prediction of pain sensitivity using data from 210 healthy subjects. We found that fusing fMRI-DTI and regional-connectivity features are capable of more accurately predicting an individual's pain sensitivity than only using one type of feature or using one imaging modality. These results revealed rich information regarding individual pain sensitivity from the brain's both structural and functional perspectives as well as from both regional and connectivity metrics. Hence, this study provided a more comprehensive characterization of the neural correlates of individual pain sensitivity, which holds a great potential for clinical pain management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rushi Zou
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen, China
| | - Linling Li
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen, China
| | - Li Zhang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen, China
| | - Gan Huang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhen Liang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen, China
| | - Lizu Xiao
- Department of Pain Medicine and Shenzhen Municipal Key Laboratory for Pain Medicine, The Affiliated Shenzhen Sixth Hospital of Guangdong Medical University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhiguo Zhang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
- Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen, China
- Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
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22
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Baseline resting-state functional connectivity determines subsequent pain ratings to a tonic ecologically valid experimental model of orofacial pain. Pain 2021; 162:2397-2404. [PMID: 34448753 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Pain is a subjective experience with significant individual differences. Laboratory studies investigating pain thresholds and experimental acute pain have identified structural and functional neural correlates. However, these types of pain stimuli have limited ecological validity to real-life pain experiences. Here, we use an orthodontic procedure-the insertion of an elastomeric separator between teeth-which typically induces mild to moderate pain that peaks within 2 days and lasts several days. We aimed to determine whether the baseline structure and resting-state functional connectivity of key regions along the trigeminal nociceptive and pain modulatory pathways correlate with subsequent peak pain ratings. Twenty-six healthy individuals underwent structural and resting-state functional MRI scanning before the placement of a separator between the first molar and second premolar, which was kept in place for 5 days. Participants recorded pain ratings 3 times daily on a 100-mm visual analogue scale. Peak pain was not significantly correlated with diffusion metrics of the trigeminal nerve or gray matter volume of any brain region. Peak pain did, however, positively correlate with baseline resting-state functional connectivity between the thalamus contralateral to the separator and bilateral insula, and negatively correlated with connectivity between the periaqueductal gray (PAG) and core nodes of the default mode network (medial prefrontal and posterior cingulate cortices). The ascending (thalamic) nociceptive and the descending (PAG) pain modulatory pathways at baseline each explained unique variation in peak pain intensity ratings. In sum, preinterventional functional neural architecture of both systems determined the individual pain experience to a subsequent ecologically valid pain stimulus.
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23
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Deemyad T, Puig S, Papale AE, Qi H, LaRocca GM, Aravind D, LaNoce E, Urban NN. Lateralized Decrease of Parvalbumin+ Cells in the Somatosensory Cortex of ASD Models Is Correlated with Unilateral Tactile Hypersensitivity. Cereb Cortex 2021; 32:554-568. [PMID: 34347040 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2020] [Revised: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibitory control of excitatory networks contributes to cortical functions. Increasing evidence indicates that parvalbumin (PV+)-expressing basket cells (BCs) are a major player in maintaining the balance between excitation (E) and inhibition (I). Disruption of E/I balance in cortical networks is believed to be a hallmark of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Here, we report a lateralized decrease in the number of PV+ BCs in L2/3 of the somatosensory cortex in the dominant hemisphere of Shank3-/- and Cntnap2-/- mouse models of ASD. The dominant hemisphere was identified during a reaching task to establish each animal's dominant forepaw. Double labeling with anti-PV antibody and a biotinylated lectin (Vicia villosa lectin [VVA]) showed that the number of BCs was not different but rather, some BCs did not express PV (PV-), resulting in an elevated number of PV- VVA+ BCs. Finally, we showed that dominant hindpaws had higher mechanical sensitivity when compared with the other hindpaws. This mechanical hypersensitivity in the dominant paw strongly correlated with the decrease in the number of PV+ interneurons and reduced PV expression in the corresponding cortex. Together, these results suggest that the hypersensitivity in ASD patients could be due to decreased inhibitory inputs to the dominant somatosensory cortex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tara Deemyad
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.,Department of Psychiatry, Translational Neuroscience Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA
| | - Stephanie Puig
- Department of Psychiatry, Translational Neuroscience Program, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA
| | - Andrew E Papale
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Hang Qi
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Gregory M LaRocca
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Deepthi Aravind
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Emma LaNoce
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
| | - Nathaniel N Urban
- Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.,Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
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24
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Neumann L, Wulms N, Witte V, Spisak T, Zunhammer M, Bingel U, Schmidt-Wilcke T. Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds. Hum Brain Mapp 2021; 42:4896-4908. [PMID: 34296487 PMCID: PMC8449096 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.25588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Revised: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain thresholds vary considerably across individuals and are influenced by a number of behavioral, genetic and neurobiological factors. However, the neurobiological underpinnings that account for individual differences remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we used voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) and graph theory, specifically the local clustering coefficient (CC) based on resting‐state connectivity, to identify brain regions, where regional gray matter volume and network properties predicted individual pain thresholds. As a main finding, we identified a cluster in the left posterior insular cortex (IC) reaching into the left parietal operculum, including the secondary somatosensory cortex, where both regional gray matter volume and the local CC correlated with individual pain thresholds. We also performed a resting‐state functional connectivity analysis using the left posterior IC as seed region, demonstrating that connectivity to the pre‐ as well as postcentral gyrus bilaterally; that is, to the motor and primary sensory cortices were correlated with individual pain thresholds. To our knowledge, this is the first study that applied VBM in combination with voxel‐based graph theory in the context of pain thresholds. The co‐location of the VBM and the local CC cluster provide first evidence that both structure and function map to the same brain region while being correlated with the same behavioral measure; that is, pain thresholds. The study highlights the importance of the posterior IC, not only for pain perception in general, but also for the determination of individual pain thresholds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lynn Neumann
- Medizinische Klinik I, Klinik für Innere Medizin, Nephrologie und Dialyse, Osteologie und Rheumatologie, St. Franziskus-Hospital Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Niklas Wulms
- Institut für Epidemiologie und Sozialmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Vanessa Witte
- Klinik für Dermatologie, Venerologie und Allergologie, St. Josef-Hospital Bochum, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany
| | - Tamas Spisak
- Klinik für Neurologie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Essen, Germany
| | | | - Ulrike Bingel
- Klinik für Neurologie, Universitätsklinikum Essen, Essen, Germany
| | - Tobias Schmidt-Wilcke
- Institut für Klinische Neurowissenschaften und Medizinische Psychologie, Heinrich Heine Universität, Düsseldorf, Germany.,Neurologisches Zentrum, Bezirksklinikum Mainkofen, Deggendorf, Germany
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25
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Niddam DM, Wang SJ, Tsai SY. Pain sensitivity and the primary sensorimotor cortices: a multimodal neuroimaging study. Pain 2021; 162:846-855. [PMID: 32947544 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT The primary somatosensory cortex (SI) is a critical part of the neural substrate underlying interindividual differences in pain sensitivity. Here, we investigated whether resting-state functional connectivity, gray matter density (GMD), and GABA and Glx (glutamate and glutamine) levels of the sensorimotor cortices were related to pain thresholds and whether such imaging measures could predict high and low pain sensitivity. Functional, structural, and spectroscopic magnetic resonance data were obtained from 48 healthy participants together with pain thresholds of the right index finger. Left and right sensorimotor networks (SMN) were extracted by means of independent component analysis, and GMD was measured within the combined SMN by means of voxel-based morphometry. Spectroscopic data were acquired from the bilateral sensorimotor cortices. Within the left SMN, functional connectivity to the right SI correlated positively with pain thresholds. In addition, GMD in the left SI and the GABA laterality index correlated positively with pain thresholds. A positive correlation was also found between the GABA laterality index and the left SMN connectivity to the right SI. Finally, the above mentioned functional connectivity and GMD measures could correctly predict high and low pain sensitivity in 83.7% of the study population. In summary, we showed that interindividual differences in pain sensitivity were related to the resting-state functional connectivity, interhemispheric GABA tone, and GMD of the sensorimotor cortices. Furthermore, high and low pain sensitivity could be predicted with high accuracy using imaging measures from the primary sensorimotor cortices.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Niddam
- Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Institute of Brain Science, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shuu-Jiun Wang
- Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.,Faculty of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University School of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shang-Yueh Tsai
- Graduate Institute of Applied Physics, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Research Center for Mind, Brain and Learning, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan
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26
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Zou R, Li L, Zhang L, Huang G, Liang Z, Zhang Z. Predicting Individual Pain Thresholds From Morphological Connectivity Using Structural MRI: A Multivariate Analysis Study. Front Neurosci 2021; 15:615944. [PMID: 33642978 PMCID: PMC7902866 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2021.615944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain sensitivity is highly variable among individuals, and it is clinically important to predict an individual’s pain sensitivity for individualized diagnosis and management of pain. Literature has shown that pain sensitivity is associated with regional structural features of the brain, but it remains unclear whether pain sensitivity is also related to structural brain connectivity. In the present study, we investigated the relationship between pain thresholds and morphological connectivity (MC) inferred from structural MRI based on data of 221 healthy participants. We found that MC was highly predictive of an individual’s pain thresholds and, importantly, it had a better prediction performance than regional structural features. We also identified a number of most predictive MC features and confirmed the crucial role of the prefrontal cortex in the determination of pain sensitivity. These results suggest the potential of using structural MRI-based MC to predict an individual’s pain sensitivity in clinical settings, and hence this study has important implications for diagnosis and treatment of pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rushi Zou
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Linling Li
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Li Zhang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Gan Huang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhen Liang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
| | - Zhiguo Zhang
- School of Biomedical Engineering, Health Science Center, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Biomedical Measurements and Ultrasound Imaging, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Marshall Laboratory of Biomedical Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.,Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
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27
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Bi Y, Hou X, Zhong J, Hu L. Test-retest reliability of laser evoked pain perception and fMRI BOLD responses. Sci Rep 2021; 11:1322. [PMID: 33446726 PMCID: PMC7809116 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79196-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Pain perception is a subjective experience and highly variable across time. Brain responses evoked by nociceptive stimuli are highly associated with pain perception and also showed considerable variability. To date, the test–retest reliability of laser-evoked pain perception and its associated brain responses across sessions remain unclear. Here, an experiment with a within-subject repeated-measures design was performed in 22 healthy volunteers. Radiant-heat laser stimuli were delivered on subjects’ left-hand dorsum in two sessions separated by 1–5 days. We observed that laser-evoked pain perception was significantly declined across sessions, coupled with decreased brain responses in the bilateral primary somatosensory cortex (S1), right primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area, and middle cingulate cortex. Intraclass correlation coefficients between the two sessions showed “fair” to “moderate” test–retest reliability for pain perception and brain responses. Additionally, we observed lower resting-state brain activity in the right S1 and lower resting-state functional connectivity between right S1 and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in the second session than the first session. Altogether, being possibly influenced by changes of baseline mental state, laser-evoked pain perception and brain responses showed considerable across-session variability. This phenomenon should be considered when designing experiments for laboratory studies and evaluating pain abnormalities in clinical practice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanzhi Bi
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Xin Hou
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China
| | - Jiahui Zhong
- Research Center of Brain and Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China
| | - Li Hu
- CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China. .,Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China.
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28
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Terock J, Frenzel S, Wittfeld K, Klinger-König J, Janowitz D, Bülow R, Hosten N, Völzke H, Grabe HJ. Alexithymia Is Associated with Altered Cortical Thickness Networks in the General Population. Neuropsychobiology 2021; 79:233-244. [PMID: 32146473 DOI: 10.1159/000504983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2019] [Accepted: 11/24/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing emotions and associated with various psychiatric disorders. Neuroimaging studies found evidence for morphological and functional brain alterations in alexithymic subjects. However, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying alexithymia remain incompletely understood. METHODS We study the association of alexithymia with cortical correlation networks in a large community-dwelling sample of the Study of Health in Pomerania. Our analysis includes data of n = 2,199 individuals (49.4% females, age = 52.1 ± 13.6 years) which were divided into a low and high alexithymic group by a median split of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Cortical correlation networks were constructed based on the mean thicknesses of 68 regions, and differences in centralities were investigated. RESULTS We found a significantly increased centrality of the right paracentral lobule in the high alexithymia network after correction for multiple testing. Several other regions with motoric and sensory functions showed altered centrality on a nominally significant level. CONCLUSIONS Finding increased centrality of the paracentral lobule, a brain area with sensory as well as motoric features and involvement in bowel and bladder voiding, may contribute to explain the association of alexithymia with functional somatic disorders and chronic pain syndromes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Terock
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Helios Hanseklinikum Stralsund, Stralsund, Germany.,Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Stefan Frenzel
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany,
| | - Katharina Wittfeld
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.,German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Johanna Klinger-König
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Deborah Janowitz
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Robin Bülow
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Norbert Hosten
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Henry Völzke
- Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Hans Jörgen Grabe
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.,German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Rostock/Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
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Farrell SF, Cowin GJ, Pedler A, Durbridge G, de Zoete RMJ, Sterling M. Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Assessment of Brain Metabolite Concentrations in Individuals With Chronic Whiplash-associated Disorder: A Cross-sectional Study. Clin J Pain 2021; 37:28-37. [PMID: 33093341 DOI: 10.1097/ajp.0000000000000890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Pathophysiologic mechanisms underpinning ongoing pain in whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) are not well understood, however, alterations in brain morphology and function have been observed in this population and in other chronic pain conditions. This study investigated metabolite profiles of brain regions in people with chronic WAD compared with controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirty-eight individuals with chronic WAD (mean [SD] age, 39.5 [11.3] years, 23 female individuals) and 16 pain-free controls (38.9 [12.7] years, 11 female individuals) underwent multivoxel brain magnetic resonance spectroscopy. At the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), primary motor cortex (1MC), and somatosensory cortex (SSC), ratios of metabolite concentrations were calculated for N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine (Cr), choline (Cho), myo-inositol (Ins), and glutamate/glutamine (Glx). Chronic WAD group participants completed clinical questionnaires and cold and pressure pain threshold assessment. Data were analyzed with hypothesis testing and Spearman correlations (P≥0.05), with Benjamini-Hochberg corrections (5% false discovery rate). RESULTS No group differences were observed for NAA:Cr, NAA:Cho, Cr:Cho, Glx:NAA, Glx:Cr, Glx:Cho, Ins:NAA, Ins:Cr, Ins:Cho or Ins:Glx for left or right ACC, 1MC, or SSC following correction for multiple comparisons. No significant correlations were observed between metabolite ratios and any clinical variable. DISCUSSION These results suggest that ongoing pain and disability in this population may not be underpinned by metabolite aberrations in the brain regions examined. Further research is required to progress our understanding of cortical contributions to neurophysiologic mechanisms in chronic WAD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Scott F Farrell
- RECOVER Injury Research Centre, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Recovery Following Road Traffic Injuries
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast
| | - Gary J Cowin
- Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane
| | - Ashley Pedler
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast
| | - Gail Durbridge
- Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, Brisbane
| | - Rutger M J de Zoete
- RECOVER Injury Research Centre, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Recovery Following Road Traffic Injuries
- School of Allied Health Science and Practice, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | - Michele Sterling
- RECOVER Injury Research Centre, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Recovery Following Road Traffic Injuries
- Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Gold Coast
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Wei D, Liu Y, Zhuang K, Lv J, Meng J, Sun J, Chen Q, Yang W, Qiu J. Brain Structures Associated With Individual Differences in Somatic Symptoms and Emotional Distress in a Healthy Sample. Front Hum Neurosci 2020; 14:492990. [PMID: 33281578 PMCID: PMC7705100 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.492990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Stress-related psychosomatic responses are viewed as important risks to our physical health. Growing evidence from structural imaging studies has implicated that stress and trauma exposures have negative effects on brain structural alterations. However, whether stress-related emotional distress and somatic symptoms are related to the structure of brain systems remains unclear. Also, stress-related somatic symptoms have adverse effects on emotional distress. In turn, emotional distress may influence somatic symptom reports via negative cognitive bias. However, whether this relationship is mediated by specific brain morphology remains poorly understood. First, we used voxel-based morphometric approaches to investigate the neuroanatomical basis underlying somatic symptoms and emotional distress in a large sample of healthy subjects (ages 18–27 years). We found that relatively high stress-related somatic symptoms were associated with reduced gray matter volumes (GMVs) in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), anterior insula, somatosensory cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Furthermore, a moderator analysis was performed to investigate the impact of recent stressful life events (moderators) on the association between specific GMVs (independent variables) and emotional distress (dependent variables). Interestingly, high levels of emotional distress were associated with small volumes of the vmPFC, anterior insula, hippocampus, and amygdala in participants with experience with more recent stressful life events. Finally, we performed mediation analyses to investigate the specific brain areas that mediate the association between emotional distress and somatic symptoms. The results showed that the effect of emotional distress on somatic symptoms is mediated by reductions in the volume of the hippocampus, the impact of somatic symptoms on emotional distress is mediated by the volume of the vmPFC. These results provided evidence that higher stress-related somatic symptoms are associated with smaller volume in prefrontal, insula, and limbic regions involved in emotion, interoception, and memory processing. The vmPFC and hippocampus play different roles in the relationship between emotional distress and somatic symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongtao Wei
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Kaixiang Zhuang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jieyu Lv
- Department of Psychology, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Meng
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jiangzhou Sun
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Qunlin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Wenjing Yang
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
| | - Jiang Qiu
- Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality (SWU), Faculty of Psychology, Ministry of Education, Chongqing, China.,Department of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
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31
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Hsiao FJ, Chen WT, Liu HY, Wang YF, Chen SP, Lai KL, Pan LLH, Wang SJ. Individual pain sensitivity is associated with resting-state cortical activities in healthy individuals but not in patients with migraine: a magnetoencephalography study. J Headache Pain 2020; 21:133. [PMID: 33198621 PMCID: PMC7670775 DOI: 10.1186/s10194-020-01200-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Pain sensitivity may determine the risk, severity, prognosis, and efficacy of treatment of clinical pain. Magnetic resonance imaging studies have linked thermal pain sensitivity to changes in brain structure. However, the neural correlates of mechanical pain sensitivity remain to be clarified through investigation of direct neural activities on the resting-state cortical oscillation and synchrony. Methods We recorded the resting-state magnetoencephalographic (MEG) activities of 27 healthy individuals and 30 patients with episodic migraine (EM) and analyzed the source-based oscillatory powers and functional connectivity at 2 to 59 Hz in pain-related cortical regions, which are the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), medial orbitofrontal (MOF) cortex, lateral orbitofrontal (LOF) cortex, insula cortex, primary somatosensory cortex (SI), primary motor cortex (MI), and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). The mechanical punctate pain threshold (MPPT) was obtained at the supraorbital area (the first branch of the trigeminal nerve dermatome, V1) and the forearm (the first thoracic nerve dermatome, T1) and further correlated with MEG measures. Results The MPPT is inversely correlated with the resting-state relative powers of gamma oscillation in healthy individuals (all corrected P < 0.05). Specifically, inverse correlation was noted between the MPPT at V1 and gamma powers in the bilateral insula (r = − 0.592 [left] and − 0.529 [right]), PCC (r = − 0.619 and − 0.541) and MI (r = − 0.497 and − 0.549) and between the MPPT at T1 and powers in the left PCC (r = − 0.561) and bilateral MI (r = − 0.509 and − 0.520). Furthermore, resting-state functional connectivity at the delta to beta bands, especially between frontal (MOF, ACC, LOF, and MI), parietal (PCC), and sensorimotor (bilateral SI and MI) regions, showed a positive correlation with the MPPT at V1 and T1 (all corrected P < 0.05). By contrast, in patients with EM, the MPPT was not associated with resting-state cortical activities. Conclusions Pain sensitivity in healthy individuals is associated with the resting-state gamma oscillation and functional connectivity in pain-related cortical regions. Further studies must be conducted in a large population to confirm whether resting-state cortical activities can be an objective measurement of pain sensitivity in individuals without clinical pain. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s10194-020-01200-8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fu-Jung Hsiao
- Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
| | - Wei-Ta Chen
- Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Hung-Yu Liu
- School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Yen-Feng Wang
- School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shih-Pin Chen
- Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Kuan-Lin Lai
- School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.,Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Li-Ling Hope Pan
- Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Shuu-Jiun Wang
- Brain Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. .,School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. .,Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
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Montesino-Goicolea S, Valdes-Hernandez PA, Hoyos L, Woods AJ, Cohen R, Huo Z, Riley JL, Porges EC, Fillingim RB, Cruz-Almeida Y. Cortical Thickness Mediates the Association Between Self-Reported Pain and Sleep Quality in Community-Dwelling Older Adults. J Pain Res 2020; 13:2389-2400. [PMID: 33061554 PMCID: PMC7522519 DOI: 10.2147/jpr.s260611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Musculoskeletal pain is prevalent in older adults representing the leading cause of disability in this population. Similarly, nearly half of older adults complain of difficulty sleeping. We aimed to explore the relationship between sleep quality with self-reported musculoskeletal pain, somatosensory and pain thresholds in community-dwelling older adults and further explore brain regions that may contribute to this association. METHODS Older adults (>60 years old, n=69) from the NEPAL study completed demographic, pain and sleep assessments followed by a quantitative sensory testing battery. A subset (n=49) also underwent a 3T high-resolution, T1-weighted anatomical scan. RESULTS Poorer sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was positively associated with self-reported pain measures (all p's >0.05), but not somatosensory and pain thresholds (all p's >0.05). Using a non-parametric threshold-free cluster enhancement (TFCE) approach, worse sleep quality was significantly associated with lower cortical thickness in the precentral, postcentral, precuneus, superior parietal, and lateral occipital regions (TFCE-FWE-corrected at p < 0.05). Further, only postcentral cortical thickness significantly mediated the association between sleep quality and self-reported pain intensity using bootstrapped mediation methods. CONCLUSION Our findings in older adults are similar to previous studies in younger individuals where sleep is significantly associated with self-reported pain. Specifically, our study implicates brain structure as a significant mediator of this association in aging. Future larger studies are needed to replicate our findings and to further understand if the brain can be a therapeutic target for both improved sleep and pain relief in older individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soamy Montesino-Goicolea
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Foundation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Pedro A Valdes-Hernandez
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Foundation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Lorraine Hoyos
- University of Central, Florida College of Medicine, Orlando, FL, USA
| | - Adam J Woods
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Foundation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Ronald Cohen
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Foundation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Zhiguang Huo
- Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health and Health Professions College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Joseph L Riley
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Eric C Porges
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Foundation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, College of Health Professions, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Roger B Fillingim
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Yenisel Cruz-Almeida
- Department of Community Dentistry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory, McKnight Brain Foundation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
- Institute on Aging, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
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33
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Pain in the default mode network: a voxel-based morphometry study on thermal pain sensitivity. Neuroreport 2020; 31:1030-1035. [DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0000000000001512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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34
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Bunk S, Emch M, Koch K, Lautenbacher S, Zuidema S, Kunz M. Pain Processing in Older Adults and Its Association with Prefrontal Characteristics. Brain Sci 2020; 10:brainsci10080477. [PMID: 32722197 PMCID: PMC7465457 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci10080477] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2020] [Revised: 07/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Aging is known to affect nociceptive processing, e.g., the ability to inhibit pain. This study aims to investigate whether pain responses in older individuals are associated with prefrontal characteristics, namely (i) executive functioning performance and (ii) structural brain variations in the prefrontal cortex. Heat and pressure stimuli were applied to assess pressure pain sensitivity and endogenous pain inhibition in 46 healthy older individuals. Executive functioning performance was assessed in three domains (i.e., cognitive inhibition, shifting, and updating) and structural brain variations were assessed in both gray and white matter. Overall pain responses were significantly associated with the executive functioning domains cognitive inhibition and shifting. However, no specific type of pain response showed an especially strong association. Endogenous pain inhibition specifically showed a significant association with gray matter volume in the prefrontal cortex and with variations in white matter structure of tracts connecting the prefrontal cortex with the periaqueductal gray. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that these variations in the prefrontal cortex can explain variance in pain inhibition beyond what can be explained by executive functioning. This might indicate that known deficits in pain inhibition in older individuals are associated with structural variations in prefrontal areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steffie Bunk
- Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9713GZ Groningen, The Netherlands; (S.Z.); (M.K.)
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +31-503616686
| | - Mónica Emch
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 Munich, Germany; (M.E.); (K.K.)
- Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | - Kathrin Koch
- Department of Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, 81675 Munich, Germany; (M.E.); (K.K.)
- Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, 82152 Martinsried, Germany
| | | | - Sytse Zuidema
- Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9713GZ Groningen, The Netherlands; (S.Z.); (M.K.)
| | - Miriam Kunz
- Department of General Practice and Elderly Care Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9713GZ Groningen, The Netherlands; (S.Z.); (M.K.)
- Department of Medical Psychology and Sociology, University of Augsburg, 86159 Augsburg, Germany
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Archibald J, MacMillan EL, Enzler A, Jutzeler CR, Schweinhardt P, Kramer JL. Excitatory and inhibitory responses in the brain to experimental pain: A systematic review of MR spectroscopy studies. Neuroimage 2020; 215:116794. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116794] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 03/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
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Telkes L, Hancu M, Paniccioli S, Grey R, Briotte M, McCarthy K, Raviv N, Pilitsis JG. Differences in EEG patterns between tonic and high frequency spinal cord stimulation in chronic pain patients. Clin Neurophysiol 2020; 131:1731-1740. [PMID: 32504934 DOI: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.03.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2019] [Revised: 02/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate the differences in neural patterns between spinal cord stimulation (SCS) waveforms (60-Hz tonic vs 10-KHz high frequency stimulation, HFS) and their correlation to stimulation-induced pain relief. METHODS We recorded 10-channel electroencephalogram (EEG) in response to stimulation ON and OFF in 9 chronic pain patients (4 women, 5 men) during SCS surgery and examined the intraoperative spatio-spectral EEG features. RESULTS We discovered stronger relative alpha power in the somatosensory region and higher trend in alpha/theta peak power ratio in frontal cortex with HFS. We also observed a shift in peak frequency from theta to alpha rhythms in HFS as compared to baseline and tonic stimulation, where slower theta activity was maintained. Further, a positive correlation was found between changes in Oswestry disability index (ODI) scores (from preoperative to postoperative) and HFS-induced alpha/theta peak power ratio in frontal and somatosensory regions. CONCLUSIONS Altogether, our findings suggest that dynamic spectral interactions in theta-alpha band and their spatial distributions might be the first intraoperative neural signatures of pain relief induced by HFS in chronic pain. SIGNIFICANCE Examining electrophysiological changes intraoperatively has a potential to elucidate response to SCS therapy prior to device selection, reducing the healthcare expenditures associated with failed implants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Llknur Telkes
- Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Albany Medical College, NY, USA
| | - Maria Hancu
- Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Albany Medical College, NY, USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Nataly Raviv
- Department of Neurosurgery, Albany Medical Center, NY, USA
| | - Julie G Pilitsis
- Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, Albany Medical College, NY, USA; Department of Neurosurgery, Albany Medical Center, NY, USA.
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Abstract
In this article, I review the concept of personalized pain management and consider how brain imaging and quantitative sensory testing can be used to derive biomarkers of chronic pain treatment outcome. I review how different modalities of brain imaging can be used to acquire information about brain structure and function and how this information can be linked to individual measures of pain.
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Mayer EA, Labus J, Aziz Q, Tracey I, Kilpatrick L, Elsenbruch S, Schweinhardt P, Van Oudenhove L, Borsook D. Role of brain imaging in disorders of brain-gut interaction: a Rome Working Team Report. Gut 2019; 68:1701-1715. [PMID: 31175206 PMCID: PMC6999847 DOI: 10.1136/gutjnl-2019-318308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 03/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Imaging of the living human brain is a powerful tool to probe the interactions between brain, gut and microbiome in health and in disorders of brain-gut interactions, in particular IBS. While altered signals from the viscera contribute to clinical symptoms, the brain integrates these interoceptive signals with emotional, cognitive and memory related inputs in a non-linear fashion to produce symptoms. Tremendous progress has occurred in the development of new imaging techniques that look at structural, functional and metabolic properties of brain regions and networks. Standardisation in image acquisition and advances in computational approaches has made it possible to study large data sets of imaging studies, identify network properties and integrate them with non-imaging data. These approaches are beginning to generate brain signatures in IBS that share some features with those obtained in other often overlapping chronic pain disorders such as urological pelvic pain syndromes and vulvodynia, suggesting shared mechanisms. Despite this progress, the identification of preclinical vulnerability factors and outcome predictors has been slow. To overcome current obstacles, the creation of consortia and the generation of standardised multisite repositories for brain imaging and metadata from multisite studies are required.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emeran A Mayer
- G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Jennifer Labus
- G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Qasim Aziz
- Neurogastroenterology Group, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Irene Tracey
- Departments of Anaesthetics and Clinical Neurology, Pembroke College, Oxford, UK
| | - Lisa Kilpatrick
- G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | - Sigrid Elsenbruch
- Institute of Medical Psychology & Behavioral Immunobiology, University Hospital Essen, University of Duisburg, Duisburg, Germany
| | | | - Lukas Van Oudenhove
- Translational Research in GastroIntestinal Disorders, KU Leuven Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - David Borsook
- Center for Pain and the Brain, Boston Children's, Massachusetts General and McLean Hospitals, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Lewis GN, Parker RS, Sharma S, Rice DA, McNair PJ. Structural Brain Alterations Before and After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Longitudinal Assessment. PAIN MEDICINE 2019; 19:2166-2176. [PMID: 29917139 DOI: 10.1093/pm/pny108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Objective Many studies have provided evidence of altered brain structure in chronic pain conditions, as well as further adaptations following treatment that are coincident with changes in pain. Less is known regarding how these structural brain adaptations relate to assessments of nociceptive processing. The current study aimed to investigate brain structure in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) before and after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and to investigate the relationships between these findings and quantitative sensory testing (QST) of the nociceptive system. Methods Twenty-nine people with knee OA underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and QST before and six months after TKA and were compared with a pain-free control group (N = 18). MRI analyses involved voxel-based morphometry and fractional anisotropy. Results Before TKA, there was reduced gray matter volume and impaired fractional anisotropy in areas associated with nociceptive processing, with further gray matter adaptations and improvements in fractional anisotropy evident after TKA. QST revealed increased nociceptive facilitation and impaired inhibition in knee OA that was reversed after TKA. There were minimal relationships found between MRI data and QST assessments or pain report. Conclusions In people with end-stage knee OA, region-specific gray matter atrophy was detected, with further changes in gray matter volume and improvements in white matter integrity observed after joint replacement. Despite coincident alterations in nociceptive inhibition and facilitation processes, there did not appear to be any association between these functional assessments of the nociceptive system and changes in brain structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gwyn N Lewis
- Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Rosalind S Parker
- Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Sheena Sharma
- Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - David A Rice
- Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.,Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Waitemata Pain Services, Waitemata District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Peter J McNair
- Health and Rehabilitation Research Institute, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand
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Abstract
Pain experienced during neonatal intensive care management can influence neurodevelopmental outcome and the somatosensory and/or emotional components of pain response in later life. Alterations in biological factors (e.g. peripheral and central somatosensory function and modulation, brain structure and connectivity) and psychosocial factors (e.g. gender, coping style, mood, parental response) that influence pain have been identified in children and young adults born very preterm or extremely preterm. Earlier gestational age at birth and cumulative pain exposure from tissue-breaking procedures and/or neonatal surgery influence the degree of change. In neonatal rodents, repeated needle insertion or hindpaw incision identify developmentally-regulated and activity-dependent long term alterations in nociceptive processing, and the efficacy of novel or current analgesic interventions can be compared. As prior neonatal experience and sex may influence current pain experience or the risk of persistent pain, these factors should be considered within the biopsychosocial assessment and formulation of pain in later life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suellen M Walker
- Clinical Neurosciences (Pain Research), UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, United Kingdom; Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trustvd, United Kingdom.
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Min S, Kim KW, Jung WM, Lee MJ, Kim YK, Chae Y, Lee H, Park HJ. Acupuncture for Histamine-Induced Itch: Association With Increased Parasympathetic Tone and Connectivity of Putamen-Midcingulate Cortex. Front Neurosci 2019; 13:215. [PMID: 30914919 PMCID: PMC6423085 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00215] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have suggested that acupuncture is effective for ameliorating itch intensity. However, factors associated with the antipruritic effects of acupuncture have yet to be clarified. In a randomized, sham-controlled, crossover trial, we investigated the antipruritic effects of acupuncture against histamine-induced itch in healthy volunteers. Autonomic changes using heart rate variability (HRV) and brain connectivity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were also assessed to identify physiological factors associated with the acupuncture response. Acupuncture significantly reduced itch intensity and skin blood perfusion as assessed by laser Doppler perfusion imaging compared to sham control, indicating the antipruritic effects of acupuncture. In responder and non-responder analysis, the power of normalized high frequency (HF norm) was significantly higher, while the power of normalized low frequency (LF norm) and LF/HF ratio were significantly lower in responders compared to non-responders, suggesting the acupuncture response involved parasympathetic activation. In fMRI analysis, the putamen and the posterior part of the midcingulate cortex (pMCC) were positively connected to itch and negatively correlated with itch intensity in responders. These results suggest that parasympathetic activity and functional connectivity of the putamen and pMCC could be associated with antipruritic response to acupuncture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seorim Min
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Graduate School, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.,Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Koh-Woon Kim
- Department of Korean Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.,East-West Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Won-Mo Jung
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Graduate School, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.,Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Min-Jung Lee
- Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Yu-Kang Kim
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Graduate School, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.,Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Younbyoung Chae
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Graduate School, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.,Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyangsook Lee
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Graduate School, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.,Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hi-Joon Park
- Department of Science in Korean Medicine, Graduate School, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea.,Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, South Korea
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Torrecillas-Martínez L, Catena A, O'Valle F, Padial-Molina M, Galindo-Moreno P. Does experienced pain affects local brain volumes? Insights from a clinical acute pain model. Int J Clin Health Psychol 2019; 19:115-123. [PMID: 31193130 PMCID: PMC6517646 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2019.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2018] [Accepted: 01/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Background/Objective:To study pain-brain morphometry associations as a function of post-surgery stages (anesthesia, pain and analgesia) in an acute pain model. Method:Impacted mandible third molar were extracted. Before surgery, an anatomical T1 scan was obtained. Regional brain volumen and subcortical nuclei shapes were obtained. Statistical analyses were done using multiple regression, being pain scores the predictors and voxel volumes, subcortical nuclei volumes and subcortical nuclei shapes, the outcomes. Results:Pain was significantly larger at pain than at anesthesia and analgesia stages, and was higher during anesthesia than during analgesia. Pain intensity was related to grey matter in several cortical (Insula, Mid Frontal and Temporal Gyruses, Precuneus, Anterior Cingulate), and subcortical nuclei (Hippocampus, Thalamus, Putamen, Amygdala), depending of the post-surgical stage. A larger number of brain areas showed significance at pain that at anesthesia and analgesia stages. Conclusions:The relationships of regional brain volumes and subcortical nuclei shapes with pain scores seemed to be unsteady, as they changed with the patient's actual pain stage.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Andrés Catena
- Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, University of Granada, Spain
| | - Francisco O'Valle
- Department of Pathology, School of Medicine & IBIMER, University of Granada, Spain
| | - Miguel Padial-Molina
- Department of Oral Surgery and Implant Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Granada, Spain
| | - Pablo Galindo-Moreno
- Department of Oral Surgery and Implant Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Granada, Spain
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Gray matter correlates of pressure pain thresholds and self-rated pain sensitivity: a voxel-based morphometry study. Pain 2019; 159:1359-1365. [PMID: 29557929 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Individual differences in sensitivity to pain are large and have clinical and scientific importance. Although heavily influenced by situational factors, they also relate to genetic factors and psychological traits, and are reflected by differences in functional activation in pain-related brain regions. Here, we used voxel-based morphometry to investigate if individual pain sensitivity is related to local gray matter volumes. Pain sensitivity was determined using (1) index finger pressure pain thresholds (PPTs) and (2) pain intensity ratings of imagined painful situations as assessed by the Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire (PSQ) in 501 population-based subjects participating in the BiDirect Study. Pain Sensitivity Questionnaire scores were positively associated with gray matter in 2 symmetrical clusters, with a focus on the parahippocampal gyrus, extending to the hippocampus, fusiform gyrus, BA19, putamen, and insula (P < 0.05 corrected), but the effect was small (R = 0.045-0.039). No negative associations with the PSQ and no associations with the PPT reached significance. Parahippocampal activation during pain and altered parahippocampal gray matter in chronic pain have been reported, which would be consistent with positive associations with PSQ scores. Alternatively, associations of PSQ scores with the parahippocampal and fusiform gray matter could relate to the visual imagination of painful situations required by the PSQ, not to pain sensitivity itself. Regarding PPTs, the present data obtained in a large sample strongly suggest an absence of associations of this parameter with gray matter volume. In conclusion, the present results argue against a strong association between pain sensitivity and local gray matter volumes.
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Yang J, Li B, Yu QY, Ye L, Zhu PW, Shi WQ, Yuan Q, Min YL, He YL, Shao Y. Altered intrinsic brain activity in patients with toothaches using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations: a resting-state fMRI study. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2019; 15:283-291. [PMID: 30697053 PMCID: PMC6342150 DOI: 10.2147/ndt.s189962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The results of previous studies have indicated that pain-associated diseases can result in marked functional and anatomical alterations in the brain. However, differences in spontaneous brain activity occurring in toothache (TA) patients remain unclear. OBJECTIVE This study investigated intrinsic brain activity changes in TA subjects using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) technique. METHODS A total of 18 patients with TA (eight males, and 10 females) and 18 healthy controls (HCs) who were matched for gender, age, and educational status were enrolled. Resting-state functional MRI was used to examine the participants. Spontaneous cerebral activity variations were investigated using the ALFF technique. The mean ALFF values of the TA patients and the HCs were classified using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. The correlations between ALFF signals of distinct regions of the cerebrum and the clinical manifestations of the TA patients were evaluated using Pearson's correlation analysis. RESULTS Compared with HCs, TA patients showed notably higher ALFF in the left postcentral gyrus, right paracentral lobule, right lingual gyrus, right inferior occipital gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, and right superior occipital gyrus. ROC curve analysis of each brain region showed that the accuracy area under the curve was excellent. In the TA group, the visual analog scale of the left side was positively correlated with the ALFF signal values of the right paracentral lobule (r=0.639, P=0.025). CONCLUSION Multiple brain regions, including pain- and vision-related areas, exhibited aberrant intrinsic brain activity patterns, which may help to explain the underlying neural mechanisms in TA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Yang
- Department of Prosthodontics, The Affiliated Stomatological Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
| | - Bin Li
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - Qiu-Yue Yu
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - Lei Ye
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - Pei-Wen Zhu
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - Wen-Qing Shi
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - Qing Yuan
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - You-Lan Min
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - Yu-Lin He
- Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
| | - Yi Shao
- Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, Nanchang, China,
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45
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Clark JR, Yeowell G, Goodwin PC. Trait anxiety and sensory processing profile characteristics in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain and central sensitisation - A pilot observational study. J Bodyw Mov Ther 2018; 22:909-916. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2017.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 10/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/15/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
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46
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Walker SM, Melbourne A, O'Reilly H, Beckmann J, Eaton-Rosen Z, Ourselin S, Marlow N. Somatosensory function and pain in extremely preterm young adults from the UK EPICure cohort: sex-dependent differences and impact of neonatal surgery. Br J Anaesth 2018; 121:623-635. [PMID: 30115261 PMCID: PMC6200114 DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2018.03.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2018] [Revised: 02/27/2018] [Accepted: 04/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Surgery or multiple procedural interventions in extremely preterm neonates influence neurodevelopmental outcome and may be associated with long-term changes in somatosensory function or pain response. METHODS This observational study recruited extremely preterm (EP, <26 weeks' gestation; n=102, 60% female) and term-born controls (TC; n=48) aged 18-20 yr from the UK EPICure cohort. Thirty EP but no TC participants had neonatal surgery. Evaluation included: quantitative sensory testing (thenar eminence, chest wall); clinical pain history; questionnaires (intelligence quotient; pain catastrophising; anxiety); and structural brain imaging. RESULTS Reduced thermal threshold sensitivity in EP vs TC participants persisted at age 18-20 yr. Sex-dependent effects varied with stimulus intensity and were enhanced by neonatal surgery, with reduced threshold sensitivity in EP surgery males but increased sensitivity to prolonged noxious cold in EP surgery females (P<0.01). Sex-dependent differences in thermal sensitivity correlated with smaller amygdala volume (P<0.05) but not current intelligence quotient. While generalised decreased sensitivity encompassed mechanical and thermal modalities in EP surgery males, a mixed pattern of sensory loss and sensory gain persisted adjacent to neonatal scars in males and females. More EP participants reported moderate-severe recurrent pain (22/101 vs 4/48; χ2=0.04) and increased pain intensity correlated with higher anxiety and pain catastrophising. CONCLUSIONS After preterm birth and neonatal surgery, different patterns of generalised and local scar-related alterations in somatosensory function persist into early adulthood. Sex-dependent changes in generalised sensitivity may reflect central modulation by affective circuits. Early life experience and sex/gender should be considered when evaluating somatosensory function, pain experience, or future chronic pain risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- S M Walker
- Clinical Neurosciences (Pain Research), UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK; Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
| | - A Melbourne
- Translational Imaging Group, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | - H O'Reilly
- Academic Neonatology, EGA UCL Institute for Women's Health, London, UK
| | - J Beckmann
- Academic Neonatology, EGA UCL Institute for Women's Health, London, UK
| | - Z Eaton-Rosen
- Translational Imaging Group, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | - S Ourselin
- Translational Imaging Group, Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, London, UK
| | - N Marlow
- Academic Neonatology, EGA UCL Institute for Women's Health, London, UK
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47
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Disrupted functional connectivity density in irritable bowel syndrome patients. Brain Imaging Behav 2018; 11:1812-1822. [PMID: 27848148 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-016-9653-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional gastrointestinal disorder resulting from a dysregulation of the brain-gut axis. However, its exact neural substrate still remains unclear. This study investigated the changes of intrinsic whole brain functional connectivity pattern in IBS using functional connectivity density (FCD). We acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data from thirty-two IBS patients and thirty-two healthy controls. Functional connectivity density, a data-driven algorithm, was used to compute the long-range and short-range FCD values for each voxel in the brain of each subject, implying the amount of distant and local functional connections of cortical hubs. The FCD maps were compared between IBS patients and healthy controls. Pearson correlations analysis was also performed between abnormal FCD values and clinical/psychometric scores in patients. Compared to healthy controls, IBS patients showed concurrently decreased long- and short-range FCD in bilateral anterior midcingulate cortices (aMCC) and inferior parietal lobules (IPL), and decreased long-range FCD in right anterior insula, and decreased short-range FCD in bilateral prefrontal cortices, subgenual anterior cingulate cortices and caudates. IBS patients also had concurrently increased long- and short-range FCD mainly in primary sensorimotor cortices, as well as increased long-range FCD in right supplementary motor area and increased short-range FCD in occipital lobe. In addition, some regions with altered FCD showed abnormal functional connectivity in brain regions involved in pain matrix of IBS patients. Furthermore, the abnormal FCD values in right anterior insula and left caudate showed significant correlation with severity of symptoms and disease duration of IBS patients respectively. In conclusion, patients with IBS have widely disrupted FCD, which decreased in brain regions involved in homeostatic afferent network, emotional arouse, and cognitive regulation, while increased in regions associated with sensorimotor modulation. And the observed functional connectivity alterations unveiled complicated working patterns of pain matrix in IBS patients. This study may provide us with new insight into the underlying brain network topology of IBS.
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48
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Beukema P, Cecil KL, Peterson E, Mann VR, Matsushita M, Takashima Y, Navlakha S, Barth AL. TrpM8-mediated somatosensation in mouse neocortex. J Comp Neurol 2018; 526:1444-1456. [PMID: 29484652 PMCID: PMC5899639 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2017] [Revised: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 02/12/2018] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Somatosensation is a complex sense mediated by more than a dozen distinct neural subtypes in the periphery. Although pressure and touch sensation have been mapped to primary somatosensory cortex in rodents, it has been controversial whether pain and temperature inputs are also directed to this area. Here we use a well-defined somatosensory modality, cool sensation mediated by peripheral TrpM8-receptors, to investigate the neural substrate for cool perception in the mouse neocortex. Using activation of cutaneous TrpM8 receptor-expressing neurons, we identify candidate neocortical areas responsive for cool sensation. Initially, we optimized TrpM8 stimulation and determined that menthol, a selective TrpM8 agonist, was more effective than cool stimulation at inducing expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos in the spinal cord. We developed a broad-scale brain survey method for identification of activated brain areas, using automated methods to quantify c-fos immunoreactivity (fos-IR) across animals. Brain areas corresponding to the posterior insular cortex and secondary somatosensory (S2) show elevated fos-IR after menthol stimulation, in contrast to weaker activation in primary somatosensory cortex (S1). In addition, menthol exposure triggered fos-IR in piriform cortex, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus. Menthol-mediated activation was absent in TrpM8-knock-out animals. Our results indicate that cool somatosensory input broadly drives neural activity across the mouse brain, with neocortical signal most elevated in the posterior insula, as well as S2 and S1. These findings are consistent with data from humans indicating that the posterior insula is specialized for somatosensory information encoding temperature, pain, and gentle touch.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Beukema
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15260
| | | | - Elena Peterson
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
| | - Victor R Mann
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720
| | - Megumi Matsushita
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213
| | - Yoshio Takashima
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095
| | - Saket Navlakha
- Integrative Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, 92037
| | - Alison L Barth
- Department of Biological Sciences and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213
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Discrete Modules and Mesoscale Functional Circuits for Thermal Nociception within Primate S1 Cortex. J Neurosci 2018; 38:1774-1787. [PMID: 29335352 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2795-17.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2017] [Revised: 11/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
This study addresses one long-standing question of whether functional separations are preserved for somatosensory modalities of touch, heat, and cold nociception within primate primary somatosensory (S1) cortex. This information is critical for understanding how the nature of pain is represented in the primate brain. Using a combination of submillimeter-resolution fMRI and microelectrode local field potential (LFP) and spike recordings, we identified spatially segregated cortical zones for processing touch and nociceptive heat and cold stimuli in somatotopically appropriate areas 3a, 3b, 1, and 2 of S1 in male monkeys. The distances between zones were comparable (∼3.4 mm) across stimulus modalities (heat, cold, and tactile), indicating the existence of uniform, modality-specific modules. Stimulus-evoked LFP maps validated the fMRI maps in areas 3b and 1. Isolation of heat and cold nociceptive neurons from the fMRI zones confirmed the validity of using fMRI to probe nociceptive regions and circuits. Resting-state fMRI analysis revealed distinct intrinsic functional circuits among functionally related zones. We discovered distinct modular structures and networks for thermal nociception within S1 cortex, a finding that has significant implications for studying chronic pain syndromes and guiding the selection of neuromodulation targets for chronic pain management.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Primate S1 subregions contain discrete heat and cold nociceptive modules. Modules with the same properties exhibit strong functional connection. Nociceptive fMRI response coincides with LFP and spike activities of nociceptive neurons. Functional separation of heat and cold pain is retained within primate S1 cortex.
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50
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Coppieters I, De Pauw R, Caeyenberghs K, Lenoir D, DeBlaere K, Genbrugge E, Meeus M, Cagnie B. Differences in white matter structure and cortical thickness between patients with traumatic and idiopathic chronic neck pain: Associations with cognition and pain modulation? Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39:1721-1742. [PMID: 29327392 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2017] [Revised: 12/05/2017] [Accepted: 01/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Brain alterations are hypothesized to be present in patients with chronic whiplash-associated disorders (CWAD). The aim of this case-control study was to examine alterations in cortical thickness and white matter (WM) structure, and the presence of brain microhemorrhages in a patient group encountering chronic neck pain of traumatic origin (i.e., CWAD) when compared with a patient group characterized by nontraumatic chronic neck pain [i.e., chronic idiopathic neck pain (CINP)], and healthy controls. Furthermore, we aimed to investigate associations between brain structure on one hand and cognitive performance and central sensitization (CS) on the other hand. T1-weighted, diffusion-weighted and T2*-weighted magnetic resonance images of the brain were acquired in 105 women (31 controls, 37 CINP, 37 CWAD) to investigate regional cortical thickness, WM structure, and microhemorrhages, respectively. Next, cognitive performance, and CS encompassing distant hyperalgesia and conditioned pain modulation (CPM) efficacy were examined. Cortical thinning in the left precuneus was revealed in CWAD compared with CINP patients. Also, decreased fractional anisotropy, together with increased values of mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity could be observed in the left cingulum hippocampus and tapetum in CWAD compared with CINP, and in the left tapetum in CWAD patients compared with controls. Moreover, the extent of WM structural deficits in the left tapetum coincided with decreased CPM efficacy in the CWAD group. This yields evidence for associations between decreased endogenous pain inhibition, and the degree of regional WM deficits in CWAD. Our results emphasize the role of structural brain alterations in women with CWAD compared with CINP.
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Affiliation(s)
- I Coppieters
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Pain in Motion International Research Group (www.paininmotion.be).,Department of Physiotherapy, Human Physiology and Anatomy (KIMA), Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
| | - R De Pauw
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - K Caeyenberghs
- School of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Australian Catholic University, Banyo, Australia
| | - D Lenoir
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - K DeBlaere
- Department of Radiology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - E Genbrugge
- Department of Radiology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - M Meeus
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Pain in Motion International Research Group (www.paininmotion.be).,Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - B Cagnie
- Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
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