Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis
© 2020 Henderson, Di Pietro, Youssef, Lee, Tam, Akhter, Mills, Murray, Peck and Macey. Pain is a complex phenomenon that is highly modifiable by expectation. Whilst the intensity of incoming noxious information plays a key role in the intensity of perceived pain, this intensity can be profoundly sha...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/G182968 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79553 |
| _version_ | 1848764072051343360 |
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| author | Henderson, L.A. Di Pietro, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Lee, S. Tam, S. Akhter, R. Mills, E.P. Murray, G.M. Peck, C.C. Macey, P.M. |
| author_facet | Henderson, L.A. Di Pietro, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Lee, S. Tam, S. Akhter, R. Mills, E.P. Murray, G.M. Peck, C.C. Macey, P.M. |
| author_sort | Henderson, L.A. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2020 Henderson, Di Pietro, Youssef, Lee, Tam, Akhter, Mills, Murray, Peck and Macey. Pain is a complex phenomenon that is highly modifiable by expectation. Whilst the intensity of incoming noxious information plays a key role in the intensity of perceived pain, this intensity can be profoundly shaped by an individual’s expectations. Modern brain imaging investigations have begun to detail the brain regions responsible for placebo and nocebo related changes in pain, but less is known about the neural basis of stimulus-expectancy changes in pain processing. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we administered two separate protocols of the same noxious thermal stimuli to 24 healthy subjects. However, different expectations were elicited by different explanations to subjects prior to each protocol. During one protocol, pain intensities were matched to expectation and in the other protocol they were not. Pain intensity was measured continuously via a manually operated computerized visual analogue scale. When individuals expected the stimulus intensity to remain constant, but in reality it was surreptitiously increased or decreased, pain intensity ratings were significantly lower than when expectation and pain intensities were matched. When the stimulus intensities did not match expectations, various areas in the brain such as the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and the midbrain periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) displayed significantly different patterns of activity compared to instances when stimulus intensity and pain expectations were matched. These results show that stimulus-expectancy manipulation of pain intensity alters activity in both higher brain and brainstem centers which are known to modulate pain under various conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:32Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-79553 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:32Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | FRONTIERS MEDIA SA |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-795532021-01-08T07:54:27Z Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis Henderson, L.A. Di Pietro, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Lee, S. Tam, S. Akhter, R. Mills, E.P. Murray, G.M. Peck, C.C. Macey, P.M. Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology pain expectations pain intensity functional magnetic resonance imaging pain modulation somatosensory cortex PREFRONTAL CORTEX MODULATION FMRI ANTICIPATION EXPERIENCE MEDULLA EMOTION NEURONS CUE © 2020 Henderson, Di Pietro, Youssef, Lee, Tam, Akhter, Mills, Murray, Peck and Macey. Pain is a complex phenomenon that is highly modifiable by expectation. Whilst the intensity of incoming noxious information plays a key role in the intensity of perceived pain, this intensity can be profoundly shaped by an individual’s expectations. Modern brain imaging investigations have begun to detail the brain regions responsible for placebo and nocebo related changes in pain, but less is known about the neural basis of stimulus-expectancy changes in pain processing. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, we administered two separate protocols of the same noxious thermal stimuli to 24 healthy subjects. However, different expectations were elicited by different explanations to subjects prior to each protocol. During one protocol, pain intensities were matched to expectation and in the other protocol they were not. Pain intensity was measured continuously via a manually operated computerized visual analogue scale. When individuals expected the stimulus intensity to remain constant, but in reality it was surreptitiously increased or decreased, pain intensity ratings were significantly lower than when expectation and pain intensities were matched. When the stimulus intensities did not match expectations, various areas in the brain such as the amygdala, anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), and the midbrain periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) displayed significantly different patterns of activity compared to instances when stimulus intensity and pain expectations were matched. These results show that stimulus-expectancy manipulation of pain intensity alters activity in both higher brain and brainstem centers which are known to modulate pain under various conditions. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79553 10.3389/fnins.2020.00006 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/G182968 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ FRONTIERS MEDIA SA fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology pain expectations pain intensity functional magnetic resonance imaging pain modulation somatosensory cortex PREFRONTAL CORTEX MODULATION FMRI ANTICIPATION EXPERIENCE MEDULLA EMOTION NEURONS CUE Henderson, L.A. Di Pietro, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Lee, S. Tam, S. Akhter, R. Mills, E.P. Murray, G.M. Peck, C.C. Macey, P.M. Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis |
| title | Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis |
| title_full | Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis |
| title_fullStr | Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis |
| title_short | Effect of Expectation on Pain Processing: A Psychophysics and Functional MRI Analysis |
| title_sort | effect of expectation on pain processing: a psychophysics and functional mri analysis |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology pain expectations pain intensity functional magnetic resonance imaging pain modulation somatosensory cortex PREFRONTAL CORTEX MODULATION FMRI ANTICIPATION EXPERIENCE MEDULLA EMOTION NEURONS CUE |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/G182968 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79553 |