Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder that typically occurs in the limbs, usually the upper limb. CRPS usually develops from a peripheral event but its maintenance relies on changes within the central nervous system. While functional abnormalities in the thalam...
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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WILEY
2020
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| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1091415 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/84866 |
| _version_ | 1848764696624103424 |
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| author | Di Pietro, Flavia Lee, B. Henderson, L.A. |
| author_facet | Di Pietro, Flavia Lee, B. Henderson, L.A. |
| author_sort | Di Pietro, Flavia |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder that typically occurs in the limbs, usually the upper limb. CRPS usually develops from a peripheral event but its maintenance relies on changes within the central nervous system. While functional abnormalities in the thalamus and primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of the brain are some of the most consistently reported brain findings in CRPS, the mechanisms are yet to be explored in full, not least of all how these two regions interact and how they might relate to clinical deficits, such as the commonly reported poor tactile acuity in this condition. This study recruited 15 upper-limb CRPS subjects and 30 healthy controls and used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate infra-slow oscillations (ISOs) in critical pain regions of the brain in CRPS. As hypothesised, we found CRPS was associated with increases in resting signal intensity ISOs (0.03–0.06 Hz) in the thalamus contralateral to the painful limb in CRPS subjects. Interestingly, there was no such difference between groups in S1, however CRPS subjects displayed stronger thalamo-S1 functional connectivity than controls, and this was related to pain. As predicted, CRPS subjects displayed poor tactile acuity on the painful limb which, interestingly, was also related to thalamo-S1 functional connectivity strength. Our findings provide novel evidence of altered patterns of resting activity and connectivity in CRPS which may underlie altered thalamocortical loop dynamics and the constant perception of pain. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:23:28Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-84866 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:23:28Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | WILEY |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-848662021-08-13T03:57:35Z Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome Di Pietro, Flavia Lee, B. Henderson, L.A. Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neuroimaging Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging Neurosciences & Neurology chronic pain CRPS infra-slow oscillations primary somatosensory cortex resting state fMRI tactile acuity thalamus NEUROPATHIC PAIN TACTILE DISCRIMINATION RETICULAR NUCLEUS CORTEX INTENSITY FREQUENCY PATIENT ACUITY BODY Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder that typically occurs in the limbs, usually the upper limb. CRPS usually develops from a peripheral event but its maintenance relies on changes within the central nervous system. While functional abnormalities in the thalamus and primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of the brain are some of the most consistently reported brain findings in CRPS, the mechanisms are yet to be explored in full, not least of all how these two regions interact and how they might relate to clinical deficits, such as the commonly reported poor tactile acuity in this condition. This study recruited 15 upper-limb CRPS subjects and 30 healthy controls and used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate infra-slow oscillations (ISOs) in critical pain regions of the brain in CRPS. As hypothesised, we found CRPS was associated with increases in resting signal intensity ISOs (0.03–0.06 Hz) in the thalamus contralateral to the painful limb in CRPS subjects. Interestingly, there was no such difference between groups in S1, however CRPS subjects displayed stronger thalamo-S1 functional connectivity than controls, and this was related to pain. As predicted, CRPS subjects displayed poor tactile acuity on the painful limb which, interestingly, was also related to thalamo-S1 functional connectivity strength. Our findings provide novel evidence of altered patterns of resting activity and connectivity in CRPS which may underlie altered thalamocortical loop dynamics and the constant perception of pain. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/84866 10.1002/hbm.25087 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1091415 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1130280 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ WILEY fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neuroimaging Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging Neurosciences & Neurology chronic pain CRPS infra-slow oscillations primary somatosensory cortex resting state fMRI tactile acuity thalamus NEUROPATHIC PAIN TACTILE DISCRIMINATION RETICULAR NUCLEUS CORTEX INTENSITY FREQUENCY PATIENT ACUITY BODY Di Pietro, Flavia Lee, B. Henderson, L.A. Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome |
| title | Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome |
| title_full | Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome |
| title_fullStr | Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome |
| title_full_unstemmed | Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome |
| title_short | Altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome |
| title_sort | altered resting activity patterns and connectivity in individuals with complex regional pain syndrome |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neuroimaging Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging Neurosciences & Neurology chronic pain CRPS infra-slow oscillations primary somatosensory cortex resting state fMRI tactile acuity thalamus NEUROPATHIC PAIN TACTILE DISCRIMINATION RETICULAR NUCLEUS CORTEX INTENSITY FREQUENCY PATIENT ACUITY BODY |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1091415 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/1091415 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/84866 |