Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33398159›Full record

ArticleNature medicine2021

A neuroimaging biomarker for sustained experimental and clinical pain.

Jae-Joong Lee, Hong Ji Kim, Marta Čeko, Bo-Yong Park, Soo Ahn Lee, Hyunjin Park, Mathieu Roy, Seong-Gi Kim, Tor D Wager, Choong-Wan Woo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 100 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
100citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

100 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Moving towards the use of artificial intelligence in pain management.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025
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40 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Jae-Joong LeeCenter for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, South Korea.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7353-8683
Hong Ji KimCenter for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, South Korea.
Marta ČekoInstitute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado, Boulder CO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8679-8145
Bo-Yong ParkCenter for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, South Korea.
Soo Ahn LeeCenter for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, South Korea.
Hyunjin ParkCenter for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, South Korea.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5681-8918
Mathieu RoyDepartment of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Seong-Gi KimCenter for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, South Korea.
Tor D WagerDepartment of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Dartmouth College, Hanover NH, USA. tor.d.wager@dartmouth.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1936-5574
Choong-Wan WooCenter for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, South Korea. waniwoo@skku.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7423-5422

Funding

The Neural Bases of Placebo Effects and their Relation to Regulatory ProcessesR01MH076136 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · PI WAGER, TOR D. · 2007 to 2023
$8.5M
fMRI-based Biomarkers for Multiple Components of PainR01DA035484 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · PI WAGER, TOR D. · 2013 to 2017
$3.1M
National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) 2018H1A2A1059844National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) 2019R1C1C1004512NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA035484NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH076136U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH076136U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) R01DA035484
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sustained pain is a major characteristic of clinical pain disorders, but it is difficult to assess in isolation from co-occurring cognitive and emotional features in patients. In this study, we developed a functional magnetic resonance imaging signature based on whole-brain functional connectivity that tracks experimentally induced tonic pain intensity and tested its sensitivity, specificity and generalizability to clinical pain across six studies (total n = 334). The signature displayed high sensitivity and specificity to tonic pain across three independent studies of orofacial tonic pain and aversive taste. It also predicted clinical pain severity and classified patients versus controls in two independent studies of clinical low back pain. Tonic and clinical pain showed similar network-level representations, particularly in somatomotor, frontoparietal and dorsal attention networks. These patterns were distinct from representations of experimental phasic pain. This study identified a brain biomarker for sustained pain with high potential for clinical translation.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAversive AgentsBiomarkersCapsaicinConnectomeFacial PainFemaleFunctional NeuroimagingHumansLow Back PainMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleModels, NeurologicalNerve NetPainAversive AgentsBiomarkersCapsaicin

Identifiers

PMID33398159
PMCPMC8447264

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.