scholarly journals Peripheral arterial stiffness during electrocutaneous stimulation is positively correlated with pain-related brain activity and subjective pain intensity: an fMRI study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toshio Tsuji ◽  
Fumiya Arikuni ◽  
Takafumi Sasaoka ◽  
Shin Suyama ◽  
Takashi Akiyoshi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arterial Stiffness ◽  
Pain Intensity ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Electrocutaneous Stimulation ◽  
Pain Matrix ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Subjective Pain ◽  
Peripheral Arterial

AbstractBrain activity associated with pain perception has been revealed by numerous PET and fMRI studies over the past few decades. These findings helped to establish the concept of the pain matrix, which is the distributed brain networks that demonstrate pain-specific cortical activities. We previously found that peripheral arterial stiffness $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art responds to pain intensity, which is estimated from electrocardiography, continuous sphygmomanometer, and photo-plethysmography. However, it remains unclear whether and to what extent $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art aligns with pain matrix brain activity. In this fMRI study, 22 participants received different intensities of pain stimuli. We identified brain regions in which the blood oxygen level-dependent signal covaried with $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art using parametric modulation analysis. Among the identified brain regions, the lateral and medial prefrontal cortex and ventral and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were consistent with the pain matrix. We found moderate correlations between the average activities in these regions and $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art (r = 0.47, p < 0.001). $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art was also significantly correlated with self-reported pain intensity (r = 0.44, p < 0.001) and applied pain intensity (r = 0.43, p < 0.001). Our results indicate that $${\beta }_{\text{art}}$$ β art is positively correlated with pain-related brain activity and subjective pain intensity. This study may thus represent a basis for adopting peripheral arterial stiffness as an objective pain evaluation metric.

Responses to Rare Visual Target and Distractor Stimuli Using Event-Related fMRI

2000 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 3133-3139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent P. Clark ◽  
Sean Fannon ◽  
Song Lai ◽  
Randall Benson ◽  
Lance Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Stimulus Presentation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Event Related Potential ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Fmri Signal ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Evoked Activity ◽  
Anatomic Locations

Previous studies have found that the P300 or P3 event-related potential (ERP) component is useful in the diagnosis and treatment of many disorders that influence CNS function. However, the anatomic locations of brain regions involved in this response are not precisely known. In the present event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, methods of stimulus presentation, data acquisition, and data analysis were optimized for the detection of brain activity in response to stimuli presented in the three-stimulus oddball task. This paradigm involves the interleaved, pseudorandom presentation of single block-letter target and distractor stimuli that previously were found to generate the P3b and P3a ERP subcomponents, respectively, and frequent standard stimuli. Target stimuli evoked fMRI signal increases in multiple brain regions including the thalamus, the bilateral cerebellum, and the occipital-temporal cortex as well as bilateral superior, medial, inferior frontal, inferior parietal, superior temporal, precentral, postcentral, cingulate, insular, left middle temporal, and right middle frontal gyri. Distractor stimuli evoked an fMRI signal change bilaterally in inferior anterior cingulate, medial frontal, inferior frontal, and right superior frontal gyri, with additional activity in bilateral inferior parietal lobules, lateral cerebellar hemispheres and vermis, and left fusiform, middle occipital, and superior temporal gyri. Significant variation in the amplitude and polarity of distractor-evoked activity was observed across stimulus repetitions. No overlap was observed between target- and distractor-evoked activity. These event-related fMRI results shed light on the anatomy of responses to target and distractor stimuli that have proven useful in many ERP studies of healthy and clinically impaired populations.

scholarly journals Abnormal Local Brain Activity Beyond the Pain Matrix in Postherpetic Neuralgia Patients: A Resting-State Functional MRI Study

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (20;2) ◽  
pp. E303-E314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Buwei Yu
Keyword(s):  
Pain Intensity ◽  
Emotional Disorders ◽  
Postherpetic Neuralgia ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Pain Perception ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Pain Modulation ◽  
Pain Matrix ◽  
Local Brain

Background: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) patients suffer debilitating chronic pain, hyperalgesia, and allodynia, as well as emotional disorders such as insomnia, anxiety, and depression. The brain structure and functional basis of PHN are still not fully understood. Objectives: To identify the changes of regional brain activity in resting-state PHN patients using regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional aptitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) methods. Correlations between spontaneous pain intensity and ReHo or fALFF were analyzed. Study Design: Observational study. Setting: University hospital. Methods: ReHo, fALFF change was analyzed in 19 PHN patients and 19 healthy controls to detect the functional abnormality in the brains of PHN patients. Correlations between ReHo, fALFF, and PHN pain intensity were assessed in the PHN group. Results: PHN patients exhibited significantly abnormal ReHo and fALFF intensity in several brain regions, including the brainstem, thalamus, limbic system, temporal lobe, prefrontal lobe, and cerebellum compared with healthy controls. Correlation analysis showed that most of the ReHo values of the aforementioned brain regions positively correlated with visual analog scale (VAS) values. But much less correlation was found between fALFF and VAS. Limitations: (a) No specific emotional assessment was given for PHN patients before fMRI scans, therefore we cannot exclude whether the emotional disorders exist in these patients. (b) Relatively short pain duration (mean 5.4 months) and small sample size (n = 19) for the PHN group. Conclusions: For PHN patients, the local brain activity abnormality was not restricted to the pain matrix. Besides regions related to pain perception, areas in charge of affective processes, emotional activity, and pain modulation also showed abnormal local brain activity in a resting state, which may suggest complicated supraspinal function and plasticity change in PHN patients. ReHo was more closely correlated with pain intensity of PHN patients than fALFF. This work indicates that besides physical and emotional pain perception, mood disorder and pain modulation could be characteristics of PHN patients. This also supports the potential use of therapeutic interventions not only restricted to pain alleviation, but also those that attempt to ameliorate the cognitive and emotional comorbidities. Key words: Postherpetic neuralgia, resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI), mood disorder, limbic sy

Distinguishing hypochondriasis and schizophrenia using regional homogeneity: a resting-state fMRI study and support vector machine analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Kangyu Jin ◽  
Zhe Shen ◽  
Guoxun Feng ◽  
Zhiyong Zhao ◽  
Jing Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Function ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Parietal Lobe ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Regional Homogeneity ◽  
Middle Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Fmri Study

Abstract Objective: A few former studies suggested there are partial overlaps in abnormal brain structure and cognitive function between Hypochondriasis (HS) and schizophrenia (SZ). But their differences in brain activity and cognitive function were unclear. Methods: 21 HS patients, 23 SZ patients, and 24 healthy controls (HC) underwent Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) with the regional homogeneity analysis (ReHo), subsequently exploring the relationship between ReHo value and cognitive functions. The support vector machines (SVM) were used on effectiveness evaluation of ReHo for differentiating HS from SZ. Results: Compared with HC, HS showed significantly increased ReHo values in right middle temporal gyrus (MTG), left inferior parietal lobe (IPL) and right fusiform gyrus (FG), while SZ showed increased ReHo in left insula, decreased ReHo values in right paracentral lobule. Additionally, HS showed significantly higher ReHo values in FG, MTG and left paracentral lobule but lower in insula than SZ. The higher ReHo values in insula were associated with worse performance in MCCB in HS group. SVM analysis showed a combination of the ReHo values in insula and FG was able to satisfactorily distinguish the HS and SZ patients. Conclusion: our results suggested the altered default mode network (DMN), of which abnormal spontaneous neural activity occurs in multiple brain regions, might play a key role in the pathogenesis of HS, and the resting-state alterations of insula closely related to cognitive dysfunction in HS. Furthermore, the combination of the ReHo in FG and insula was a relatively ideal indicator to distinguish HS from SZ.

Acetaminophen Reduces Social Pain

2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 931-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Nathan DeWall ◽  
Geoff MacDonald ◽  
Gregory D. Webster ◽  
Carrie L. Masten ◽  
Roy F. Baumeister ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Social Rejection ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Physical Pain ◽  
Social Pain ◽  
Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex

Pain, whether caused by physical injury or social rejection, is an inevitable part of life. These two types of pain—physical and social—may rely on some of the same behavioral and neural mechanisms that register pain-related affect. To the extent that these pain processes overlap, acetaminophen, a physical pain suppressant that acts through central (rather than peripheral) neural mechanisms, may also reduce behavioral and neural responses to social rejection. In two experiments, participants took acetaminophen or placebo daily for 3 weeks. Doses of acetaminophen reduced reports of social pain on a daily basis (Experiment 1). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure participants’ brain activity (Experiment 2), and found that acetaminophen reduced neural responses to social rejection in brain regions previously associated with distress caused by social pain and the affective component of physical pain (dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, anterior insula). Thus, acetaminophen reduces behavioral and neural responses associated with the pain of social rejection, demonstrating substantial overlap between social and physical pain.

scholarly journals Neuronal Substrates Underlying Performance Variability in Well-Trained Skillful Motor Task in Humans

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nobuaki Mizuguchi ◽  
Shintaro Uehara ◽  
Satoshi Hirose ◽  
Shinji Yamamoto ◽  
Eiichi Naito
Keyword(s):  
Task Performance ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Cerebellar Hemisphere ◽  
Intensive Training ◽  
Performance Variability ◽  
The Right

Motor performance fluctuates trial by trial even in a well-trained motor skill. Here we show neural substrates underlying such behavioral fluctuation in humans. We first scanned brain activity with functional magnetic resonance imaging while healthy participants repeatedly performed a 10 s skillful sequential finger-tapping task. Before starting the experiment, the participants had completed intensive training. We evaluated task performance per trial (number of correct sequences in 10 s) and depicted brain regions where the activity changes in association with the fluctuation of the task performance across trials. We found that the activity in a broader range of frontoparietocerebellar network, including the bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate and anterior insular cortices, and left cerebellar hemisphere, was negatively correlated with the task performance. We further showed in another transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) experiment that task performance deteriorated, when we applied anodal tDCS to the right DLPFC. These results indicate that fluctuation of brain activity in the nonmotor frontoparietocerebellar network may underlie trial-by-trial performance variability even in a well-trained motor skill, and its neuromodulation with tDCS may affect the task performance.

Abstract WMP117: Regional Homogeneity Changes In Patients With Transient Ischemic Attack: A Resting-state Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study

Stroke ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Guo ◽  
Ning Chen ◽  
Muke Zhou ◽  
Pian Wang ◽  
Li He
Keyword(s):  
Transient Ischemic Attack ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Resting State ◽  
Right Hemisphere ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Regional Homogeneity ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Ischemic Attack

Background: Transient ischemic attack (TIA) can increase the risk of some neurologic dysfunctions, of which the mechanism remains unclear. Resting-state functional MRI (rfMRI) is suggested to be a valuable tool to study the relation between spontaneous brain activity and behavioral performance. However, little is known about whether the local synchronization of spontaneous neural activity is altered in TIA patients. The purpose of this study is to detect differences in regional spontaneous activities throughout the whole brain between TIAs and normal controls. Methods: Twenty one TIA patients suffered an ischemic event in the right hemisphere and 21 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. All subjects were investigated using cognitive tests and rfMRI. The regional homogeneity (ReHo) was calculate and compared between two groups. Then a correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between ReHo values of brain regions showing abnormal resting-state properties and clinical variables in TIA group. Results: Compared with controls, TIA patients exhibited decreased ReHo in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), right inferior prefrontal gyrus, right ventral anterior cingulate cortex and right dorsal posterior cingular cortex. Moreover, the mean ReHo in right DLPFC and right inferior prefrontal gyrus were significantly correlated with MoCA in TIA patients. Conclusions: Neural activity in the resting state is changed in patients with TIA. The positive correlation between regional homogeneity of rfMRI and cognition suggests that ReHo may be a promising tool to better our understanding of the neurobiological consequences of TIA.

scholarly journals The neuroscience of Romeo and Juliet : an fMRI study of acting

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 181908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Brown ◽  
Peter Cockett ◽  
Ye Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Brain Activity ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Multiple Roles ◽  
First Person ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Romeo And Juliet ◽  
Loss Of Self ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Mri Study

The current study represents a first attempt at examining the neural basis of dramatic acting. While all people play multiple roles in daily life—for example, ‘spouse' or ‘employee'—these roles are all facets of the ‘self' and thus of the first-person (1P) perspective. Compared to such everyday role playing, actors are required to portray other people and to adopt their gestures, emotions and behaviours. Consequently, actors must think and behave not as themselves but as the characters they are pretending to be. In other words, they have to assume a ‘fictional first-person' (Fic1P) perspective. In this functional MRI study, we sought to identify brain regions preferentially activated when actors adopt a Fic1P perspective during dramatic role playing. In the scanner, university-trained actors responded to a series of hypothetical questions from either their own 1P perspective or from that of Romeo (male participants) or Juliet (female participants) from Shakespeare's drama. Compared to responding as oneself, responding in character produced global reductions in brain activity and, particularly, deactivations in the cortical midline network of the frontal lobe, including the dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortices. Thus, portraying a character through acting seems to be a deactivation-driven process, perhaps representing a ‘loss of self'.

scholarly journals Using Brain Imaging to Extract the Structure of Complex Events at the Rational Time Band

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 1624-1636 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Anderson ◽  
Yulin Qin
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Human Mind ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Physical Universe ◽  
Fmri Study ◽  
Prefrontal Region ◽  
Complex Events ◽  
Motor Region ◽  
Time Band

A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was performed in which participants performed a complex series of mental calculations that spanned about 2 min. An Adaptive Control of Thought—Rational (ACT-R) model [Anderson, J. R. How can the human mind occur in the physical universe? New York: Oxford University Press, 2007] was developed that successfully fit the distribution of latencies. This model generated predictions for the fMRI signal in six brain regions that have been associated with modules in the ACT-R theory. The model's predictions were confirmed for a fusiform region that reflects the visual module, for a prefrontal region that reflects the retrieval module, and for an anterior cingulate region that reflects the goal module. In addition, the only significant deviations to the motor region that reflects the manual module were anticipatory hand movements. In contrast, the predictions were relatively poor for a parietal region that reflects an imaginal module and for a caudate region that reflects the procedural module. Possible explanations of these poor fits are discussed. In addition, exploratory analyses were performed to find regions that might correspond to the predictions of the modules.

Functional brain-imaging correlates of negative affectivity and the onset of first-episode depression

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 1001-1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. G. Davey ◽  
S. Whittle ◽  
B. J. Harrison ◽  
J. G. Simmons ◽  
M. L. Byrne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affectivity ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Functional Brain Imaging ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Resting State Functional Connectivity ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Positive Correlation ◽  
Fmri Study

Background.The amygdala and subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC) are key brain regions for the generation of negative affect. In this longitudinal fMRI study of adolescents we investigated how amygdala–sACC connectivity was correlated with negative affectivity (NA) both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and examined its relationship to the onset of first-episode depression.Method.Fifty-six adolescents who were part of a larger longitudinal study of adolescent development were included. They had no history of mental illness at the time of their baseline scan (mean age 16.5 years) and had a follow-up scan 2 years later (mean age 18.8 years). We used resting-state functional-connectivity MRI to investigate whether cross-sectional and change measures of amygdala–sACC connectivity were (i) correlated with NA and its change over time, and (ii) related to the onset of first-episode depression.Results.The magnitude of amygdala connectivity with sACC showed significant positive correlation with NA at both time-points. Further analysis confirmed that change in amygdala–sACC connectivity between assessments was correlated with change in NA. Eight participants developed a first episode of depression between the baseline and follow-up assessments: they showed increased amygdala–sACC connectivity at follow-up.Conclusions.Amygdala–sACC connectivity is associated with NA in adolescence, with change in connectivity between these regions showing positive correlation with change in NA. Our observation that the onset of depression was associated with an increase in connectivity between the regions provides support for the neurobiological ‘scar’ hypothesis of depression.

scholarly journals Meta-analysis of resting-state fMRI in depression: generating spatial hypotheses for potential clinical applications

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benedikt Sundermann ◽  
Mona Olde lütke Beverborg ◽  
Bettina Pfleiderer
Keyword(s):  
Resting State ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Likelihood Estimation ◽  
Resting State Fmri ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Diagnostic Classification Models ◽  
Spontaneous Brain Activity

Information derived from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during wakeful rest has been introduced as a candidate diagnostic biomarker in unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD). Multiple reports of resting state fMRI in MDD describe group effects. Such prior knowledge can be adopted to pre-select potentially discriminating features, for example for diagnostic classification models with the aim to improve diagnostic accuracy. Purpose of this analysis was to consolidate spatial information about alterations of spontaneous brain activity in MDD to serve such feature selection and as a secondary aim to improve understanding of disease mechanisms. 32 studies were included in final analyses. Coordinates extracted from the original reports were assigned to two categories based on directionality of findings. Meta-analyses were calculated using the non-additive activation likelihood estimation approach with coordinates organized by subject group to account for non-independent samples. Results were compared with established resting state networks (RSNs) and spatial representations of recently introduced temporally independent functional modes (TFMs) of spontaneous brain activity. Converging evidence revealed a distributed pattern of brain regions with increased or decreased spontaneous activity in MDD. The most distinct finding was hyperactivity/ hyperconnectivity presumably reflecting the interaction of cortical midline structures (posterior default mode network components associated with self-referential processing and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex) with lateral frontal areas related to externally-directed cognition. One particular TFM seems to better comprehend the findings than classical RSNs. Alterations that can be captured by resting state fMRI show considerable overlap with those identifiable with other neuroimaging modalities though differing in some aspects.

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