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Santos Cuevas DC, Campos Ruiz RE, Collina DD, Tierra Criollo CJ. Effective brain connectivity related to non-painful thermal stimuli using EEG. Biomed Phys Eng Express 2024; 10:045044. [PMID: 38834037 DOI: 10.1088/2057-1976/ad53ce] [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: 03/15/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024]
Abstract
Understanding the brain response to thermal stimuli is crucial in the sensory experience. This study focuses on non-painful thermal stimuli, which are sensations induced by temperature changes without causing discomfort. These stimuli are transmitted to the central nervous system through specific nerve fibers and are processed in various regions of the brain, including the insular cortex, the prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex. Despite the prevalence of studies on painful stimuli, non-painful thermal stimuli have been less explored. This research aims to bridge this gap by investigating brain functional connectivity during the perception of non-painful warm and cold stimuli using electroencephalography (EEG) and the partial directed coherence technique (PDC). Our results demonstrate a clear contrast in the direction of information flow between warm and cold stimuli, particularly in the theta and alpha frequency bands, mainly in frontal and temporal regions. The use of PDC highlights the complexity of brain connectivity during these stimuli and reinforces the existence of different pathways in the brain to process different types of non-painful warm and cold stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Denny Daniel Collina
- Department of Electronics and Biomedical Engineering, Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, 30510-000, Brazil
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Leu C, Glineur E, Liberati G. Cue-based modulation of pain stimulus expectation: do ongoing oscillations reflect changes in pain perception? A registered report. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:240626. [PMID: 39100172 PMCID: PMC11296059 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024]
Abstract
A promising stream of investigations is targeting ongoing neural oscillations and whether their modulation could be related to the perception of pain. Using an electroencephalography (EEG) frequency-tagging approach, sustained periodic thermonociceptive stimuli perceived as painful have been shown to modulate ongoing oscillations in the theta, alpha and beta bands at the frequency of stimulation. Nonetheless, it remains uncertain whether these modulations are indeed linked to pain perception. To test this relationship, we modulated pain perception using a cue-based expectation modulation paradigm and investigated whether ongoing oscillations in different frequency bands mirror the changes in stimulus perception. Forty healthy participants were instructed that a visual cue can precede either a high- or low-intensity stimulation. These cues were paired with three different levels of sustained periodic thermonociceptive stimuli (low, medium and high). Despite a strong effect of expectation on perceived stimulus intensity, this effect was not reflected in the modulation of the ongoing oscillations, suggesting a potential dissociation of pain perception and these oscillatory activities. Rather, it seems that the intensity of stimulation is the primary generator of the frequency-tagged EEG responses. Importantly, these results need to be confirmed by further investigations that could allow the detection of smaller effects than originally estimated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Leu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Esther Glineur
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France
| | - Giulia Liberati
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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Coll MP, Walden Z, Bourgoin PA, Taylor V, Rainville P, Robert M, Nguyen DK, Jolicoeur P, Roy M. Pain reflects the informational value of nociceptive inputs. Pain 2024:00006396-990000000-00595. [PMID: 38713801 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Pain perception and its modulation are fundamental to human learning and adaptive behavior. This study investigated the hypothesis that pain perception is tied to pain's learning function. Thirty-one participants performed a threat conditioning task where certain cues were associated with a possibility of receiving a painful electric shock. The cues that signaled potential pain or safety were regularly changed, requiring participants to continually establish new associations. Using computational models, we quantified participants' pain expectations and prediction errors throughout the task and assessed their relationship with pain perception and electrophysiological responses. Our findings suggest that subjective pain perception increases with prediction error, that is, when pain was unexpected. Prediction errors were also related to physiological nociceptive responses, including the amplitude of nociceptive flexion reflex and electroencephalography markers of cortical nociceptive processing (N1-P2-evoked potential and gamma-band power). In addition, higher pain expectations were related to increased late event-related potential responses and alpha/beta decreases in amplitude during cue presentation. These results further strengthen the idea of a crucial link between pain and learning and suggest that understanding the influence of learning mechanisms in pain modulation could help us understand when and why pain perception is modulated in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel-Pierre Coll
- École de Psychologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
- Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (CIRRIS), Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Zoey Walden
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Veronique Taylor
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Pierre Rainville
- Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Stomatology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Manon Robert
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Dang Khoa Nguyen
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Pierre Jolicoeur
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Mathieu Roy
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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Xu Z, Soh Z, Kurota Y, Kimura Y, Hirano H, Sasaoka T, Yoshino A, Tsuji T. Neuroimaging-based evidence for sympathetic correlation between brain activity and peripheral vasomotion during pain anticipation. Sci Rep 2024; 14:3383. [PMID: 38337009 PMCID: PMC10858222 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53921-4] [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: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Anticipation of pain engenders anxiety and fear, potentially shaping pain perception and governing bodily responses such as peripheral vasomotion through the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). Sympathetic innervation of vascular tone during pain perception has been quantified using a peripheral arterial stiffness index; however, its innervation role during pain anticipation remains unclear. This paper reports on a neuroimaging-based study designed to investigate the responsivity and attribution of the index at different levels of anticipatory anxiety and pain perception. The index was measured in a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment that randomly combined three visual anticipation cues and painful stimuli of two intensities. The peripheral and cerebral responses to pain anticipation and perception were quantified to corroborate bodily responsivity, and their temporal correlation was also assessed to identify the response attribution of the index. Contrasting with the high responsivity across levels of pain sensation, a low responsivity of the index across levels of anticipatory anxiety revealed its specificity across pain experiences. Discrepancies between the effects of perception and anticipation were validated across regions and levels of brain activity, providing a brain basis for peripheral response specificity. The index was also characterized by a 1-s lag in both anticipation and perception of pain, implying top-down innervation of the periphery. Our findings suggest that the SNS responds to pain in an emotion-specific and sensation-unbiased manner, thus enabling an early assessment of individual pain perception using this index. This study integrates peripheral and cerebral hemodynamic responses toward a comprehensive understanding of bodily responses to pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ziqiang Xu
- Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan
| | - Zu Soh
- Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan.
| | - Yuta Kurota
- Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan
| | - Yuya Kimura
- Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan
| | - Harutoyo Hirano
- Department of Medical Equipment Engineering, Clinical Collaboration Unit, School of Medical Sciences, Fujita Health University, 1-98 Dengakugakubo, Kutsukake-cho, Toyoake, Aichi, 470-1192, Japan
| | - Takafumi Sasaoka
- Center for Brain, Mind and KANSEI Sciences Research, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 734-8553, Japan
| | - Atsuo Yoshino
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan
| | - Toshio Tsuji
- Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima, 739-8527, Japan.
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Pan Z, Zhang C, Su W, Qi X, Feng X, Gao L, Xu X, Liu J. Relationship between individual differences in pain empathy and task- and resting-state EEG. Neuroimage 2023; 284:120452. [PMID: 37949258 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120452] [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: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 11/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 11/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Pain empathy is a complex form of psychological inference that enables us to understand how others feel in the context of pain. Since pain empathy may be grounded in our own pain experiences, it exhibits huge inter-individual variability. However, the neural mechanisms behind the individual differences in pain empathy and its association with pain perception are still poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to characterize brain mechanisms associated with individual differences in pain empathy in adult participants (n = 24). The 32-channel electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded at rest and during a pain empathy task, and participants viewed static visual stimuli of the limbs submitted to painful and nonpainful stimulation to solicit empathy. The pain sensitivity of each participant was measured using a series of direct current stimulations. In our results, the N2 of Fz and the LPP of P3 and P4 were affected by painful pictures. We found that both delta and alpha bands in the frontal and parietal cortex were involved in the regulation of pain empathy. For the delta band, a close relationship was found between average power, either in the resting or task state, and individual differences in pain empathy. It suggested that the spectral power in Fz's delta band may reflect subjective pain empathy across individuals. For the alpha band, the functional connectivity between Fz and P3 under painful picture stimulation was correlated to individuals' pain sensitivity. It indicated that the alpha band may reflect individual differences in pain sensitivity and be involved in pain empathy processing. Our results suggested the distinct role of the delta and alpha bands of EEG signals in pain empathy processing and may deepen our understanding of the neural mechanisms underpinning pain empathy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhiqiang Pan
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Chuan Zhang
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan 637000, PR China
| | - Wenjie Su
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Xingang Qi
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Xinyue Feng
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Lanqi Gao
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China
| | - Xiaoxue Xu
- Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan 637000, PR China.
| | - Jixin Liu
- Xi'an Key Laboratory of Intelligent Sensing and Regulation of trans-Scale Life Information, School of Life Science and Technology, Xidian University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
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Kenefati G, Rockholt MM, Ok D, McCartin M, Zhang Q, Sun G, Maslinski J, Wang A, Chen B, Voigt EP, Chen ZS, Wang J, Doan LV. Changes in alpha, theta, and gamma oscillations in distinct cortical areas are associated with altered acute pain responses in chronic low back pain patients. Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1278183. [PMID: 37901433 PMCID: PMC10611481 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1278183] [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: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 09/25/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Chronic pain negatively impacts a range of sensory and affective behaviors. Previous studies have shown that the presence of chronic pain not only causes hypersensitivity at the site of injury but may also be associated with pain-aversive experiences at anatomically unrelated sites. While animal studies have indicated that the cingulate and prefrontal cortices are involved in this generalized hyperalgesia, the mechanisms distinguishing increased sensitivity at the site of injury from a generalized site-nonspecific enhancement in the aversive response to nociceptive inputs are not well known. Methods We compared measured pain responses to peripheral mechanical stimuli applied to a site of chronic pain and at a pain-free site in participants suffering from chronic lower back pain (n = 15) versus pain-free control participants (n = 15) by analyzing behavioral and electroencephalographic (EEG) data. Results As expected, participants with chronic pain endorsed enhanced pain with mechanical stimuli in both back and hand. We further analyzed electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings during these evoked pain episodes. Brain oscillations in theta and alpha bands in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) were associated with localized hypersensitivity, while increased gamma oscillations in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and increased theta oscillations in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) were associated with generalized hyperalgesia. Discussion These findings indicate that chronic pain may disrupt multiple cortical circuits to impact nociceptive processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Kenefati
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Mika M. Rockholt
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Deborah Ok
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Michael McCartin
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Qiaosheng Zhang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Guanghao Sun
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Julia Maslinski
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Aaron Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Baldwin Chen
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Erich P. Voigt
- Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, United States
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, Neuroscience Institute, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Lisa V. Doan
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Management, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
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