Human brain measures of clinical pain: a review. II. Tomographic imagings

This paper (Parts I and II) reviews the measures employed in studying the brain neurophysiological activities of clinical pain. In Part II, these measures include the imaging and measurement of brain blood flow and hemodynamics in various regions of the brain, the scanning of gross and fine brain structures by computerized axial tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, and the imaging and measurement of brain metabolic changes, energy uptake, and receptors bindings through positron emission tomography or single-photon emission computerized tomography. Molecular chemical transformation by the nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of tissue changes and analgesic-receptor interactions is also noted. Most studies of the cerebral measures of traumatic and pathophysiological pain reported in the literature are concerned with headache. The relationships of brain activities among sensory processes of nociception, subjective experience of pain intensity and quality, emotional reaction, and cognitive coping often are complex and not well elucidated in man. Although significant changes in the cerebral physiological parameters are frequently reported in pain patients, the specificity and sensitivity of these measures as objective markers for human pain, reviewed from Part I and Part II together, has not yet been conclusively defined. Also, normative data basis and criteria for classifying abnormality of these brain measures must be established and their validity and reliability be carefully examined so that they can be confidently applied in diagnosis and management of clinical pain. Nevertheless, advancement on measurement of temporal dynamics in 3-D topographic mapping of cortical activities and source localization modeling, together with tomographic imaging of neurochemical metabolisms in the brain will further our scientific understanding of cerebral pain mechanisms. A window on the brain of human pain is being opened.