Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm
© 2016 The Authors. The neural mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of chronic neuropathic pain remain unclear. Evidence from human investigations suggests that neuropathic pain is associated with altered thalamic burst firing and thalamocortical dysrhythmia. Additionally, exper...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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SOC NEUROSCIENCE
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79568 |
| _version_ | 1848764076186927104 |
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| author | Alshelh, Z. Harrington, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Reeves, J.M. Macey, P.M. Russell Vickers, E. Peck, C.C. Murray, G.M. Henderson, L.A. |
| author_facet | Alshelh, Z. Harrington, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Reeves, J.M. Macey, P.M. Russell Vickers, E. Peck, C.C. Murray, G.M. Henderson, L.A. |
| author_sort | Alshelh, Z. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | © 2016 The Authors.
The neural mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of chronic neuropathic pain remain unclear. Evidence from human investigations suggests that neuropathic pain is associated with altered thalamic burst firing and thalamocortical dysrhythmia. Additionally, experimental animal investigations show that neuropathic pain is associated with altered infra-slow (<0.1 Hz) frequency oscillations within the dorsal horn and somatosensory thalamus. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether, in humans, neuropathic pain was also associated with altered infra-slow oscillations within the ascending “pain” pathway. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that individuals with orofacial neuropathic pain have increased infra-slow oscillatory activity throughout the ascending pain pathway, including within the spinal trigeminal nucleus, somatosensory thalamus, thalamic reticular nucleus, and primary somatosensory cortex. Furthermore, these infra-slow oscillations were temporally coupled across these multiple sites and occurred at frequencies similar to calcium waves in activated astrocytes. The region encompassing the spinal trigeminal nucleus also displayed increased regional homogeneity, consistent with a local spread of neural activity by astrocyte activation. In contrast, no increase in oscillatory behavior within the ascending pain pathway occurred during acute noxious stimuli in healthy individuals. These data reveal increased oscillatory activity within the ascending pain pathway that likely underpins increased thalamocortical oscillatory activity, a self-sustaining thalamocortical dysrhythmia, and the constant perception of pain. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:36Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-79568 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:13:36Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | SOC NEUROSCIENCE |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-795682020-09-07T05:40:28Z Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm Alshelh, Z. Harrington, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Reeves, J.M. Macey, P.M. Russell Vickers, E. Peck, C.C. Murray, G.M. Henderson, L.A. Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology astrocytes infra-slow oscillations orofacial pain regional homogeneity spinal trigeminal nucleus thalamocortical rhythm LESS-THAN-0.1 HZ OSCILLATIONS POSITRON-EMISSION-TOMOGRAPHY PERIPHERAL-NERVE INJURY SPINAL-CORD-INJURY DORSAL-HORN MECHANICAL ALLODYNIA THALAMIC ACTIVITY GLIAL ACTIVATION CINGULATE CORTEX BRAIN ACTIVITY © 2016 The Authors. The neural mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of chronic neuropathic pain remain unclear. Evidence from human investigations suggests that neuropathic pain is associated with altered thalamic burst firing and thalamocortical dysrhythmia. Additionally, experimental animal investigations show that neuropathic pain is associated with altered infra-slow (<0.1 Hz) frequency oscillations within the dorsal horn and somatosensory thalamus. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether, in humans, neuropathic pain was also associated with altered infra-slow oscillations within the ascending “pain” pathway. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging, we found that individuals with orofacial neuropathic pain have increased infra-slow oscillatory activity throughout the ascending pain pathway, including within the spinal trigeminal nucleus, somatosensory thalamus, thalamic reticular nucleus, and primary somatosensory cortex. Furthermore, these infra-slow oscillations were temporally coupled across these multiple sites and occurred at frequencies similar to calcium waves in activated astrocytes. The region encompassing the spinal trigeminal nucleus also displayed increased regional homogeneity, consistent with a local spread of neural activity by astrocyte activation. In contrast, no increase in oscillatory behavior within the ascending pain pathway occurred during acute noxious stimuli in healthy individuals. These data reveal increased oscillatory activity within the ascending pain pathway that likely underpins increased thalamocortical oscillatory activity, a self-sustaining thalamocortical dysrhythmia, and the constant perception of pain. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79568 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2768-15.2016 English SOC NEUROSCIENCE fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology astrocytes infra-slow oscillations orofacial pain regional homogeneity spinal trigeminal nucleus thalamocortical rhythm LESS-THAN-0.1 HZ OSCILLATIONS POSITRON-EMISSION-TOMOGRAPHY PERIPHERAL-NERVE INJURY SPINAL-CORD-INJURY DORSAL-HORN MECHANICAL ALLODYNIA THALAMIC ACTIVITY GLIAL ACTIVATION CINGULATE CORTEX BRAIN ACTIVITY Alshelh, Z. Harrington, Flavia Youssef, A.M. Reeves, J.M. Macey, P.M. Russell Vickers, E. Peck, C.C. Murray, G.M. Henderson, L.A. Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm |
| title | Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm |
| title_full | Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm |
| title_fullStr | Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm |
| title_full_unstemmed | Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm |
| title_short | Chronic neuropathic pain: It’s about the rhythm |
| title_sort | chronic neuropathic pain: it’s about the rhythm |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology astrocytes infra-slow oscillations orofacial pain regional homogeneity spinal trigeminal nucleus thalamocortical rhythm LESS-THAN-0.1 HZ OSCILLATIONS POSITRON-EMISSION-TOMOGRAPHY PERIPHERAL-NERVE INJURY SPINAL-CORD-INJURY DORSAL-HORN MECHANICAL ALLODYNIA THALAMIC ACTIVITY GLIAL ACTIVATION CINGULATE CORTEX BRAIN ACTIVITY |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79568 |