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Neuroradiology
Dec, 2023;65 (12): 1767-1776.

Neural correlates of central pain sensitization in chronic low back pain: a resting-state fMRI study.

NingJian Fan, JiXi Chen, Bing Zhao, LiYun Liu, WeiZhen Yang, Xian Chen, ZhanBin Lu, LiGong Wang, HengCong Cao, AiGuo Ma
Author Information
  1. NingJian Fan: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China. ORCID
  2. JiXi Chen: Pediatric Neurology Department EEG Room, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  3. Bing Zhao: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  4. LiYun Liu: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  5. WeiZhen Yang: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  6. Xian Chen: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  7. ZhanBin Lu: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  8. LiGong Wang: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  9. HengCong Cao: Department of Spinal Surgery, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China.
  10. AiGuo Ma: Department of Trauma, The Second Hospital of Tangshan, Tangshan, China. liurui0730@icloud.com.
PMID: 37882803 DOI: 10.1007/s00234-023-03237-3

Abstract

PURPOSE: The objective of this study is to explore the neural correlates of pain sensitization in patients with chronic low back pain (cLBP). While the association between cLBP and pain sensitization has been widely reported, the underlying brain mechanism responsible for this relationship requires further investigation.
METHODS: Our study included 56 cLBP patients and 56 healthy controls (HC). Functional magnetic resonance imaging data were obtained, and the voxel-wise amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was calculated to identify brain alterations in cLBP patients compared to HC groups. Pearson correlation coefficients were computed to explore the association between clinical data and brain alterations. Furthermore, mediation analyses were performed to investigate the path association between brain alterations and pain-related behaviors.
RESULTS: Our findings revealed that patients with cLBP exhibited higher sensitivity, attention, and catastrophizing tendencies towards pain compared to HC. Furthermore, cLBP patients displayed significantly higher ALFF in various brain regions within the "pain matrix" and the default mode network when compared to HC. The altered precuneus ALFF was positively correlated with pain intensity (R = 0.51, P<0.001) and was negatively correlated with pain sensitivity (R = -0.43, P<0.001) in cLBP patients. Importantly, the effect of altered precuneus ALFF on pain intensity was mediated by pain threshold in these patients.
CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that altered neural activity in the precuneus may contribute to pain hypersensitivity, which further exacerbating pain in cLBP patients.

Keywords

Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation Chronic low back pain Chronic pain Default mode network Functional magnetic resonance imaging

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Grants

  1. 20231737/Henan Provincial Science and Technology Research Project

MeSH Term

Humans
Low Back Pain
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Brain
Brain Mapping
Pain Measurement
Chronic Pain
Journal Article
Article has an altmetric score of 1

Word Cloud

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