Dissociating Pain from Its Anticipation in the Human Brain

The experience of pain is subjectively different from the fear and anxiety caused by threats of pain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy humans was applied to dissociate neural activation patterns associated with acute pain and its anticipation. Expectation of pain activated sites with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1999-06, Vol.284 (5422), p.1979-1981
Main Authors: Ploghaus, Alexander, Tracey, Irene, Gati, Joseph S., Clare, Stuart, Menon, Ravi S., Matthews, Paul M., J. Nicholas P. Rawlins
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anticipation
Anxiety - physiopathology
Biological and medical sciences
Brain
Brain - physiology
Brain Mapping
Cerebellum
Cerebellum - physiology
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Chronic pain
Cognition & reasoning
Coordinate systems
Cues
Expectation
Female
Frontal lobe
Frontal Lobe - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Light
Light emitting diodes
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Mental stimulation
Pain
Pain - physiopathology
Pain - psychology
Pain Measurement
Perception - physiology
Somesthesis and somesthetic pathways (proprioception, exteroception, nociception)
interoception
electrolocation. Sensory receptors
Stimuli
Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs
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Summary:The experience of pain is subjectively different from the fear and anxiety caused by threats of pain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy humans was applied to dissociate neural activation patterns associated with acute pain and its anticipation. Expectation of pain activated sites within the medial frontal lobe, insular cortex, and cerebellum distinct from, but close to, locations mediating pain experience itself. Anticipation of pain can in its own right cause mood changes and behavioral adaptations that exacerbate the suffering experienced by chronic pain patients. Selective manipulations of activity at these sites may offer therapeutic possibilities for treating chronic pain.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.284.5422.1979