Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026
10:39
3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
18.4K
Structural connectivity changes in the cerebral pain matrix in burning mouth syndrome: a multi-shell,
Ryo Kurokawa1, Kouhei Kamiya2,3, Shohei Inui2
1Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan. rkurokawa-tky@umin.ac.jp.
Neuroradiology
|June 18, 2021
Summary
This study reveals altered brain connectivity in burning mouth syndrome (BMS) patients, particularly in areas related to pain processing. These findings suggest a distinct emotional-affective component to this chronic pain condition.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
- Pain Research
Background:
- Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic oral pain condition.
- Previous research explored brain connectivity in BMS using MRI, but not with advanced diffusion imaging techniques.
- This study introduces novel methods to investigate structural brain connectivity in BMS.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess differences in brain structural connectivity between BMS patients and healthy controls.
- To utilize advanced diffusion imaging methods: multi-shell, multi-tissue-constrained spherical deconvolution (MSMT-CSD), anatomically constrained tractography (ACT), and spherical deconvolution informed filtering of tractograms (SIFT).
- To apply graph analysis to probabilistic tractography data for network comparison.
Main Methods:
- 14 BMS patients and 11 healthy controls underwent 3-T MRI.
- Probabilistic structural connectivity was computed using MSMT-CSD, ACT, and SIFT algorithms.
- Graph analysis, including t-tests, compared brain networks between groups based on 84 cortical regions.
Main Results:
- BMS patients showed significantly higher betweenness centrality in the left insula, right amygdala, and right lateral orbitofrontal cortex.
- BMS patients exhibited significantly lower betweenness centrality in the right inferotemporal cortex.
- No significant differences were observed in clustering coefficient, node degree, or small-worldness between groups.
Conclusions:
- Graph analysis of structural connectivity using advanced diffusion imaging identified alterations in pain-related brain regions in BMS.
- These findings underscore the emotional-affective aspects of burning mouth syndrome.
- The study highlights the utility of MSMT-CSD, ACT, and SIFT in characterizing chronic pain conditions.
Related Concept Videos
01:33Somatosensation
The somatosensory system relays sensory information from the skin, mucous membranes, limbs, and joints. Somatosensation is more familiarly known as the sense of touch. A typical somatosensory pathway includes three types of long neurons: primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary neurons have cell bodies located near the spinal cord in groups of neurons called dorsal root ganglia. The sensory neurons of ganglia innervate designated areas of skin called dermatomes.
01:44Nociception
Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain. Thus, pain helps the...
01:20Pain
Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...