Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31785068›Full record

ArticleHuman brain mapping2020

Pain modulates neural responses to reward in the medial prefrontal cortex.

Chenbo Wang, Chaofei Bao, Jiatao Gao, Yujin Gu, Xiao-Wei Dong

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Human brain mapping, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Punishments Enhance Reward Learning by Modulating Striatal Prediction Errors.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. The analgesic effect and neural mechanism of spicy food intake.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Pain Modulates Responses to Emotional Stimuli.Frontiers in psychology · 2020
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Chenbo WangKey Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.ORCID 0000-0002-1423-0726
Chaofei BaoKey Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Jiatao GaoKey Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Yujin GuKey Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
Xiao-Wei DongKey Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (MOE&STCSM), Shanghai Changning-ECNU Mental Health Center, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China.
East China Normal University · CNNew York University Shanghai · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pain has been found to promote reward-seeking behaviors, which might be a consequence of modulated brain activities in the reward neural circuitry in a painful state. The present study investigated how pain affected reward processing and reward-related neural activities using fMRI technique. A total of 50 healthy participants were recruited and used for data analyses, with half being treated with topical capsaicin cream and the other half with hand cream (treatment: pain or control). The participants were asked to perform a card-guessing game when their brain activities responding to feedbacks (outcome: win or loss) were recorded. Behavioral results showed that participants in pain group overestimated their correct choices in the card-guess game. Whole-brain fMRI analysis revealed that the main effect of outcome (win vs. loss) activated a typical network of the reward neural circuitry, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the bilateral nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Importantly, the region of interest analysis revealed a significant interaction of treatment and outcome in the mPFC, with increased mPFC neural activity responding to win outcome in pain condition. Moreover, the functional connectivity between the mPFC and the NAcc was decreased in pain condition. We conclude that the pain-induced modulation of the mPFC activity could result in alterations of both the emotional response to and the cognitive evaluation of reward.

Indexed as

RewardBrain MappingCapsaicinFeedback, PsychologicalFemaleHumansLinear ModelsMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleNerve NetNucleus AccumbensOxygenPainPrefrontal CortexPsychophysicsSelf ConceptCapsaicinOxygenfMRImPFCNAccpainreward

Identifiers

PMID31785068
PMCPMC7267926
OpenAlexW2991452539

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.