title: The dynamic pain connectome.
abstract: Traditionally, studies of how pain and attention modulate one another involved explicit cognitive-state manipulations. However, emerging evidence suggests that spontaneous brain-wide network communication is intrinsically dynamic on multiple timescales, and attentional states are in constant fluctuation. Here, in light of studies on neural mechanisms of spontaneous attentional fluctuations and pain variability, we introduce the concept of a dynamic 'pain connectome' in the brain. We describe how recent progress in our understanding of individual differences in intrinsic attention to pain and neural network dynamics in chronic pain can facilitate development of personalized pain therapies. Furthermore, we emphasize that the dynamics of pain-attention interactions must be accounted for in the contemporary search for a 'neural signature' of the pain connectome.
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain, Imaging, and Behaviour - Systems Neuroscience, Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kucyi
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain, Imaging, and Behaviour - Systems Neuroscience, Toronto Western Research Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada; Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Division of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Surgery, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada. Electronic address: kdavis@uhnres.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Karen D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D063132:Connectome; D006801:Humans; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: antinociception; brain connectivity; default mode network; dynamic functional connectivity; mind wandering; salience network