scholarly journals Brain Function in Fibromyalgia: Altered Pain Processing and Cognitive Dysfunction

10.5772/56495 ◽  
2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Mercado ◽  
Paloma Barjola ◽  
Marisa Fernndez-Snchez ◽  
Virginia Guerra ◽  
Francisco Gmez-Esquer
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dysfunction ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Pain Processing

Using fMRI to evaluate the effects of milnacipran on central pain processing in patients with fibromyalgia

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Petzke ◽  
K.B. Jensen ◽  
E. Kosek ◽  
E. Choy ◽  
S. Carville ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Default Mode Network ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Pain Processing ◽  
Central Pain ◽  
Pressure Pain ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Default Mode ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Fmri Analysis ◽  
Central Pain Processing

AbstractBackgroundIn recent years, the prescription of serotonin-noradrenalin reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) for treatment of fibromyalgia (FM) has increased with reports of their efficacy. The SNRI milnacipran is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of FM, yet, the mechanisms by which milnacipran reduces FM symptoms are unknown. A large number of neuroimaging studies have demonstrated altered brain function in patients with FM but the effect of milnacipran on central pain processing has not been investigated. The primary objective of this study was to assess the effect of milnacipran on sensitivity to pressure-evoked pain in FM. Secondary objectives were to assess the effect of milnacipran on cerebral processing of pressure-evoked pain using fMRI and the tolerability and safety of milnacipran 200 mg/day in FM.Methods92 patients were randomized to either 13-weeks milnacipran treatment (200 mg/day) or placebo in this double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter clinical trial. Psychophysical measures and functional MRI (fMRI) assessments were performed before and after treatment using a computer-controlled pressure-pain stimulator. Here, we present the results of several a priori defined statistical analyses.ResultsMilnacipran-treated patients displayed a trend toward lower pressure-pain sensitivity after treatment, compared to placebo, and the difference was greater at higher pain intensities. A single group fMRI analysis of milnacipran-treated patients indicated increased pain-evoked brain activity in the caudatus nucleus, anterior insula and amygdala after treatment, compared to before treatment; regions implicated in pain inhibitory processes. A 2 × 2 repeated measures fMRI analysis, comparing milnacipran and placebo, before and after treatment, showed that milnacipran-treated patients had greater pain-evoked activity in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex after treatment; a region previously implicated in intrinsic brain function and FM pathology. This finding was only significant when uncorrected for multiple comparisons. The safety analysis revealed that patients from both treatment groups had treatment-emergent adverse events where nausea was the most common complaint, reported by 43.5% of placebo patients and 71.7% of milnacipran-treated patients. Patients on milnacipran were more likely to discontinue treatment because of side effects.ConclusionsOur results provide preliminary indications of increased pain inhibitory responses in milnacipran-treated FM patients, compared to placebo. The psychophysical assessments did not reach statistical significance but reveal a trend toward higher pressure-pain tolerance after treatment with milnacipran, compared to placebo, especially for higher pain intensities. Our fMRI analyses point toward increased activation of the precuneus/posterior cingulum in patients treated with milnacipran, however results were not corrected for multiple comparisons. The precuneus/posterior cingulum is a key region of the default mode network and has previously been associated with abnormal function in FM. Future studies may further explore activity within the default mode network as a potential biomarker for abnormal central pain processing.ImplicationsThe present study provides novel insights for future studies where functional neuroimaging may be used to elucidate the central mechanisms of common pharmacological treatments for chronic pain. Furthermore, our results point toward a potential mechanism for pain normalization in response to milnacipran, involving regions of the default mode network although this finding needs to be replicated in future studies.

Occlusion and brain function: mastication as a prevention of cognitive dysfunction

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. ONO ◽  
T. YAMAMOTO ◽  
K.-ya KUBO ◽  
M. ONOZUKA
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dysfunction ◽  
Brain Function

Occlusion and brain function: mastication as a prevention of cognitive dysfunction

BDJ ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 209 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-85 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dysfunction ◽  
Brain Function

scholarly journals Cognitive Dysfunction after Heart Disease: A Manifestation of the Heart-Brain Axis

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Chengyang Xu ◽  
Xueshu Tao ◽  
Xiaonan Ma ◽  
Rui Zhao ◽  
Zhipeng Cao
Keyword(s):  
Heart Failure ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Cognitive Dysfunction ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Amyloid Β ◽  
Blood Perfusion ◽  
Clinical Applications ◽  
The Brain ◽  
And Oxidative Stress

The functions of the brain and heart, which are the two main supporting organs of human life, are closely linked. Numerous studies have expounded the mechanisms of the brain-heart axis and its related clinical applications. However, the effect of heart disease on brain function, defined as the heart-brain axis, is less studied even though cognitive dysfunction after heart disease is one of its most frequently reported manifestations. Hypoperfusion caused by heart failure appears to be an important risk factor for cognitive decline. Blood perfusion, the immune response, and oxidative stress are the possible main mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction, indicating that the blood-brain barrier, glial cells, and amyloid-β may play active roles in these mechanisms. Clinicians should pay more attention to the cognitive function of patients with heart disease, especially those with heart failure. In addition, further research elucidating the associated mechanisms would help discover new therapeutic targets to intervene in the process of cognitive dysfunction after heart disease. This review discusses cognitive dysfunction in relation to heart disease and its potential mechanisms.

scholarly journals Modeling Space Radiation Induced Cognitive Dysfunction Using Targeted And Non-Targeted Effects

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor Shuryak ◽  
David Brenner ◽  
Steven Blattnig ◽  
Barbara Shukitt-Hale ◽  
Bernard Rabin
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Dysfunction ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Radiation Effects ◽  
Information Criterion ◽  
Space Mission ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Radiation Induced ◽  
Human Exploration ◽  
Fe Ions

Abstract Radiation-induced cognitive dysfunction is increasingly recognized as an important risk for human exploration of distant planets. Mechanistically-motivated mathematical modeling helps to interpret and quantify this phenomenon. Here we considered two general mechanisms of ionizing radiation-induced damage: targeted effects (TE), caused by traversal of cells by ionizing tracks, and non-targeted effects (NTE), caused by responses of other cells to signals released by traversed cells. We compared the performances of 18 dose response model variants based on these concepts, fitted by robust nonlinear regression to a large published data set on novel object recognition testing in rats exposed to multiple space-relevant radiation types (H, C, O, Si, Ti and Fe ions), covering wide ranges of linear energy transfer (LET) (0.22-181 keV/µm) and dose (0.001-2 Gy). The strongest support (by Akaike information criterion) was found for an NTE+TE model where NTE saturate at low doses (~0.01 Gy) and occur at all tested LETs, whereas TE depend on dose linearly with a slope that increases with LET. The importance of NTE was also found by additional analyses of the data using quantile regression and random forests. These results suggest that NTE-based radiation effects on brain function are potentially important for astronaut health and for space mission risk assessments.

A challenge for predictive coding: Representational or experiential diversity?

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martina G. Vilas ◽  
Lucia Melloni
Keyword(s):  
Brain Function ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Predictive Processing ◽  
Process Theory

Abstract To become a unifying theory of brain function, predictive processing (PP) must accommodate its rich representational diversity. Gilead et al. claim such diversity requires a multi-process theory, and thus is out of reach for PP, which postulates a universal canonical computation. We contend this argument and instead propose that PP fails to account for the experiential level of representations.

Toward a neuroscope: An application of high-performance computing for real-time evaluation of brain function using MRI

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 922-923
Author(s):  
C. S. Potter ◽  
C. D. Gregory ◽  
H. D. Morris ◽  
Z.-P. Liang ◽  
P. C. Lauterbur
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Complex Signal ◽  
Time Step ◽  
Brain Organization ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Imaging And Spectroscopy ◽  
3D Anatomy

Over the past few years, several laboratories have demonstrated that changes in local neuronal activity associated with human brain function can be detected by magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. Using these methods, the effects of sensory and motor stimulation have been observed and cognitive studies have begun. These new methods promise to make possible even more rapid and extensive studies of brain organization and responses than those now in use, such as positron emission tomography.Human brain studies are enormously complex. Signal changes on the order of a few percent must be detected against the background of the complex 3D anatomy of the human brain. Today, most functional MR experiments are performed using several 2D slice images acquired at each time step or stimulation condition of the experimental protocol. It is generally believed that true 3D experiments must be performed for many cognitive experiments. To provide adequate resolution, this requires that data must be acquired faster and/or more efficiently to support 3D functional analysis.

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