Parallel cortical-brainstem pathways to attentional analgesia

NeuroImage

Rosalyn Moran¹  Wendy-Elizabeth Davies¹  Jonathan C.W. Brooks²  Lee Harrison³  Rob Gregory³  Valeria Oliva³  Anthony E. Pickering⁴ 

[1] Anaesthesia, Pain and Critical Care Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University Hospitals Bristol, Bristol BS2 8HW, United Kingdom;;Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology &School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, United Kingdom;School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, 12a Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TU, United Kingdom;

关键词: Pain;    fMRI;    Attention;    Brainstem;    Analgesia;    Connectivity;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Pain demands attention, yet pain can be reduced by focusing attention elsewhere. The neural processes involved in this robust psychophysical phenomenon, attentional analgesia, are still being defined. Our previous fMRI study linked activity in the brainstem triad of locus coeruleus (LC), rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) and periaqueductal grey (PAG) with attentional analgesia. Here we identify and model the functional interactions between these regions and the cortex in healthy human subjects (n = 57), who received painful thermal stimuli whilst simultaneously performing a visual attention task. RVM activity encoded pain intensity while contralateral LC activity correlated with attentional analgesia. Psycho-Physiological Interaction analysis and Dynamic Causal Modelling identified two parallel paths between forebrain and brainstem. These connections are modulated by attentional demand: a bidirectional anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) – right-LC loop, and a top-down influence of task on ACC-PAG-RVM. By recruiting discrete brainstem circuits, the ACC is able to modulate nociceptive input to reduce pain in situations of conflicting attentional demand.

【 授权许可】

Unknown