ArticleNeuroImage2022
Tonic pain alters functional connectivity of the descending pain modulatory network involving amygdala, periaqueductal gray, parabrachial nucleus and anterior cingulate cortex.
Article in NeuroImage, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Contemporary evidence for central nervous system mechanisms underlying chronic pain perception, modulation, and chronification in adults: a scoping review.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Pooled it
- Altered static-dynamic interhemispheric connectivity and transcriptional features underlying lateralization in patients with migraine.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- A review of descending pain modulation in humans.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Abnormal Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between the Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex and the Limbic System Contributes to Pain and Emotion Regulation Impairment in Fibromyalgia Patients.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2026Article
- Neural correlates underlying high-frequency stimulation-induced secondary hyperalgesia in humans.Pain reports · 2025Article
- Exploration of Key Brain Regions Involved in Acupuncture and Moxibustion Analgesia: An Imaging-Based Study.Journal of pain research · 2025Review
- Altered patterns in the prefrontal cortex and limbic system in female patients with neuropathic pain secondary to recurrent median nerve entrapment post carpal tunnel release.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Advances and challenges in neuroimaging-based pain biomarkers.Cell reports. Medicine · 2024Review
- Methanol Extract ofMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Uncovering brain functional connectivity disruption patterns of lung cancer-related pain.Brain imaging and behavior · 2024Article
- Structural and functional changes of anterior cingulate cortex subregions in migraine without aura: relationships with pain sensation and pain emotion.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
- Melatonin Induces Analgesic Effects through MTResearch (Washington, D.C.) · 2024Article
- Article
- Activation of the TNF-α-Necroptosis Pathway in Parvalbumin-Expressing Interneurons of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex Contributes to Neuropathic Pain.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Pain-induced adaptations in the claustro-cingulate pathway.Cell reports · 2023Article
- Measuring pain and nociception: Through the glasses of a computational scientist. Transdisciplinary overview of methods.Frontiers in network physiology · 2023Review
- Pain in the claustrum.Neurobiology of pain (Cambridge, Mass.)Review
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8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionResting state functional connectivity (FC) is widely used to assess functional brain alterations in patients with chronic pain. However, reports of FC accompanying tonic pain in pain-free persons are rare. A network we term the Descending Pain Modulatory Network (DPMN) is implicated in healthy and pathologic pain modulation. Here, we evaluate the effect of tonic pain on FC of specific nodes of this network: anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), amygdala (AMYG), periaqueductal gray (PAG), and parabrachial nuclei (PBN).
methodsIn 50 pain-free participants (30F), we induced tonic pain using a capsaicin-heat pain model. functional MRI measured resting BOLD signal during pain-free rest with a 32 °C thermode and then tonic pain where participants experienced a previously warm temperature combined with capsaicin. We evaluated FC from ACC, AMYG, PAG, and PBN with correlation of self-report pain intensity during both states. We hypothesized tonic pain would diminish FC dyads within the DPMN.
resultsOf all hypothesized FC dyads, only PAG and subgenual ACC was weakly altered during pain (F = 3.34; p = 0.074; pain-free>pain d = 0.25). After pain induction sACC-PAG FC became positively correlated with pain intensity (R = 0.38; t = 2.81; p = 0.007). Right PBN-PAG FC during pain-free rest positively correlated with subsequently experienced pain (R = 0.44; t = 3.43; p = 0.001). During pain, this connection's FC was diminished (paired t=-3.17; p = 0.0026). In whole-brain analyses, during pain-free rest, FC between left AMYG and right superior parietal lobule and caudate nucleus were positively correlated with subsequent pain. During pain, FC between left AMYG and right inferior temporal gyrus negatively correlated with pain. Subsequent pain positively correlated with right AMYG FC with right claustrum; right primary visual cortex and right temporo-occipitoparietal junction
conclusionWe demonstrate sACC-PAG tonic pain FC positively correlates with experienced pain and resting right PBN-PAG FC correlates with subsequent pain and is diminished during tonic pain. Finally, we reveal PAG- and right AMYG-anchored networks which correlate with subsequently experienced pain intensity. Our findings suggest specific connectivity patterns within the DPMN at rest are associated with subsequently experienced pain and modulated by tonic pain. These nodes and their functional modulation may reveal new therapeutic targets for neuromodulation or biomarkers to guide interventions.
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