|
Academic/Biomedical Research
News & Jobs
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Free Newsletters
Archive
My Subscriptions
News by Subject
News by Disease
News by Date
PLoS
Search News
Post Your News
JoVE
Job Seeker Login
Most Recent Jobs
Search Jobs
Post Resume
Career Fairs
Career Resources
For Employers
Regional News
US & Canada
Biotech Bay
Biotech Beach
Genetown
Pharm Country
BioCapital
BioMidwest
Bio NC
BioForest
Southern Pharm
BioCanada East
US Device
Europe
Asia
Company Profiles
Research Store
Research Events
Post an Event
Real Estate
Business Opportunities
|
|
|
|
PLoS By Category | Recent
PLoS Articles
|
|
Anesthesiology and Pain Management - Mental Health - Neurological Disorders - Neuroscience
|
An fMRI Study Exploring the Overlap and Differences between Neural Representations of Physical and Recalled Pain
Published:
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Author:
Merle Fairhurst et al.
by Merle Fairhurst, Katherine Fairhurst, Chantal Berna, Irene Tracey
Implementing a recall paradigm without hypnosis, we use functional MRI (fMRI) to explore and compare nociceptive and centrally-driven pain experiences. We posit that a trace of a recent nociceptive event can be used to create sensory-re-experiencing of pain that can be qualified in terms of intensity and vividness. Fifteen healthy volunteers received three levels of thermal stimuli (warm, low pain and high pain) and subsequently were asked to recall and then rate this experience. Neuroimaging results reveal that recalling a previous sensory experience activates an extensive network of classical pain processing structures except the contralateral posterior insular cortex. Nociceptive-specific activation of this structure and the rated intensity difference between physical and recalled pain events allow us to investigate the link between the quality of the original nociceptive stimulus and the mental trace, as well as the differences between the accompanying neural responses. Additionally, by incorporating the behavioural ratings, we explored which brain regions were separately responsible for generating either an accurate or vivid recall of the physical experience. Together, these observations further our understanding of centrally-mediated pain experiences and pain memory as well as the potential relevance of these factors in the maintenance of chronic pain.
More...
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|