Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization
Objective This study investigates associations between cortical thickness and pain duration, and central sensitization as markers of pain progression in painful knee osteoarthritis. Methods Whole brain cortical thickness and pressure pain thresholds were assessed in 70 participants; 40 pati...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Public Library of Science
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37673/ |
| _version_ | 1848795508784496640 |
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| author | Alshuft, Hamza Condon, Laura Dineen, Robert A. Auer, Dorothee P. |
| author_facet | Alshuft, Hamza Condon, Laura Dineen, Robert A. Auer, Dorothee P. |
| author_sort | Alshuft, Hamza |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objective
This study investigates associations between cortical thickness and pain duration, and central sensitization as markers of pain progression in painful knee osteoarthritis.
Methods
Whole brain cortical thickness and pressure pain thresholds were assessed in 70 participants; 40 patients with chronic painful knee osteoarthritis (age = 66.1± 8.5 years, 21 females, mean duration of pain = 8.5 years), and 30 healthy controls (age = 62.7± 7.4, 17 females).
Results
Cortical thickness negatively correlated with pain duration mainly in fronto-temporal areas outside of classical pain processing areas (p<0.05, age-controlled, FDR corrected). Pain sensitivity was unrelated to cortical thickness. Patients showed lower cortical thickness in the right anterior insula (p<0.001, uncorrected) with no changes surviving multiple test correction.
Conclusion
With increasing number of years of suffering from chronic arthritis pain we found increasing cortical thinning in extended cerebral cortical regions beyond recognised pain-processing areas. While the mechanisms of cortical thinning remain to be elucidated, we show that pain progression indexed by central sensitization does not play a major role. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:33:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-37673 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:33:12Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-376732024-08-15T15:20:11Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37673/ Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization Alshuft, Hamza Condon, Laura Dineen, Robert A. Auer, Dorothee P. Objective This study investigates associations between cortical thickness and pain duration, and central sensitization as markers of pain progression in painful knee osteoarthritis. Methods Whole brain cortical thickness and pressure pain thresholds were assessed in 70 participants; 40 patients with chronic painful knee osteoarthritis (age = 66.1± 8.5 years, 21 females, mean duration of pain = 8.5 years), and 30 healthy controls (age = 62.7± 7.4, 17 females). Results Cortical thickness negatively correlated with pain duration mainly in fronto-temporal areas outside of classical pain processing areas (p<0.05, age-controlled, FDR corrected). Pain sensitivity was unrelated to cortical thickness. Patients showed lower cortical thickness in the right anterior insula (p<0.001, uncorrected) with no changes surviving multiple test correction. Conclusion With increasing number of years of suffering from chronic arthritis pain we found increasing cortical thinning in extended cerebral cortical regions beyond recognised pain-processing areas. While the mechanisms of cortical thinning remain to be elucidated, we show that pain progression indexed by central sensitization does not play a major role. Public Library of Science 2016-09-22 Article PeerReviewed Alshuft, Hamza, Condon, Laura, Dineen, Robert A. and Auer, Dorothee P. (2016) Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization. PLoS ONE, 11 (9). e0161687. ISSN 1932-6203 Pain sensation; knees; central nervous system; morphometry; osteoarthritis; prefrontal cortex; knee joints; brain morphometry http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0161687 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161687 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0161687 |
| spellingShingle | Pain sensation; knees; central nervous system; morphometry; osteoarthritis; prefrontal cortex; knee joints; brain morphometry Alshuft, Hamza Condon, Laura Dineen, Robert A. Auer, Dorothee P. Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization |
| title | Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization |
| title_full | Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization |
| title_fullStr | Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization |
| title_short | Cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization |
| title_sort | cerebral cortical thickness in chronic pain due to knee osteoarthritis: the effect of pain duration and pain densitization |
| topic | Pain sensation; knees; central nervous system; morphometry; osteoarthritis; prefrontal cortex; knee joints; brain morphometry |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37673/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37673/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37673/ |