Pain-Related Abnormal Neuronal Synchronization of the Nucleus Accumbens in Parkinson’s Disease

Brain Sciences

Kaoru Kinugawa¹  Hiroshi Kataoka¹  Tomoo Mano¹  Kazuma Sugie¹  Toshiteru Miyasaka²  Yuya Yamatani³ 

[1] Department of Neurology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara 634-8521, Japan;Department of Radiology, Nara Medical University, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara 634-8521, Japan;Division of Central Radiology, Nara Medical University Hospital, 840 Shijo-cho, Kashihara 634-8521, Japan;

关键词: pain;    Parkinson’s disease;    resting-state functional MRI;    functional connectivity;    nucleus accumbens;    mesolimbic pathway;   

DOI  :  10.3390/brainsci12010084

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often experience pain, which fluctuates in “on” and “off” states, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a central component of the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathway involved in pain processing. We conducted resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) analysis to explore the relationship between the neuronal synchronization of NAc with pain-related brain regions and pain intensity in “on” and “off” states. We assessed 23 patients with sporadic PD based on rsfMRI and pain intensity using the revised Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire. Patients with PD displayed higher pain intensity scores in the “off” state than in the “on” state. The pain intensity in the “off” state was substantially correlated with the functional connectivity (FC) between the NAc and primary motor/sensory cortices and contralateral NAc. Changes in pain intensity from the “on” to “off” state displayed correlations with those between the right (rNA) and left NAc (lNAc) and the right precentral gyrus (rPreCG) /right insular cortex (rIC) from the “off” to “on” state. Aberrant bilateral NAc and rNAc–rPreCG/rIC FC in the “off” state were closely related to pain symptoms developed from the “on” to “off” states. These results suggest that the NAc in the mesolimbic pathway is related to pain in PD and may help understand the mechanism of pain development in patients with PD.

【 授权许可】

Unknown