title: Virtual pain stimulation of allodynia patients activates cortical representation of pain and emotions: a functional MRI study.
abstract: The present study investigated neural correlates of affect processing in allodynia patients (n=8) and healthy controls (n=12) with the aid of virtual tactile stimulation. Whole brain functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed for allodynia patients and healthy volunteers while they were shown a video demonstrating light stimulation of the palm and another stimulation aimed at producing anticipation of palm stimulation. Contrasting with controls, patients displayed activation of the cortical areas related to pain and emotions: prefrontal cortex (Brodmann's area BA 10) and anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24). These findings may indicate involvement of an emotional component of pain perception in all odynia patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Kochi Medical School, Kochi, Japan. ushidat-koc@umtn.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ushida
authors.forename: Tatsunori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ikemoto
authors.forename: Shinichirou
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Yoriko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.forename: Wasa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Shigeki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Akio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ushida
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007088:Illusions / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D014584:User-Computer Interface