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Functional Hyperconnectivity and Task-Based Activity Changes Associated With Neuropathic Pain After Spinal Cord
Shana R Black1,2, Jace B King3, Mark A Mahan4
1Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States.
Frontiers in Neurology
|June 28, 2021
Summary
This study explored brain activity in spinal cord injury patients with neuropathic pain (NP). Findings suggest altered brain activation and connectivity patterns in NP patients, highlighting potential new therapeutic targets.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Neuropathic pain (NP) is a chronic pain condition affecting 80% of spinal cord injury (SCI) patients.
- Current treatments for NP are often ineffective, and its underlying neurophysiological mechanisms remain poorly understood.
- Neuroimaging studies suggest NP is associated with distinct functional brain activity patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate functional activation and connectivity differences in SCI patients with and without NP.
- To identify neural activity fluctuations related to NP using a novel somatosensory attention task.
- To explore connectivity-based correlations in SCI patients with NP.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to examine brain activity during a novel somatosensory attention task.
- High-resolution resting-state fMRI was collected to assess functional connectivity.
- Exploratory analysis compared functional activation and connectivity in SCI patients with NP versus those without NP.
Main Results:
- Increased activation during NP focus was observed in brain regions involved in somatosensory integration and representational knowledge.
- NP patients showed increased resting-state connectivity in sensorimotor, attention, and pain-related brain networks.
- While not statistically significant after correction, observed correlations align with hypotheses and suggest NP-specific brain alterations.
Conclusions:
- The study identified specific brain regions (insula, prefrontal, medial inferior parietal cortices) with altered activation and connectivity in SCI patients with NP.
- These findings provide preliminary, multi-modal evidence for novel areas for therapeutic targeting in NP.
- The novel somatosensory attention task offers a controlled method for studying NP mechanisms in SCI patients.
