I correlati neurali dell'anticipazione dolorifica: una meta-analisi quantitativa secondo la metodica Activation Likelihood Estimation

Pain anticipation (PA)sometimes is considered the moment in which expectation arise. Brain imaging studies published over the last decade, using either positron emission tomography (PET) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), suggest that multiple brain regions may play a pivotal role in this process. However, there continues to be much debate as to which areas consistently contribute to pain anticipation related networks. In the present study, I used activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analysis, a state-of-the-art approach, to search for the cortical areas involved in PA in human experimental pain models. Seventeen fMRI studies and Three PET studies investigating cerebral hemodynamic changes were included in the analysis. During expectation of pain, activated foci were found in the medial anterior cingulate, right anterior insula, and lateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal cortex. Deactivations were found in the bilateral amygdala, parahippocampal gyrus, in the claustrum, in the right thalamus and red nucleus. Our results suggest on one hand that the modulatory cortical networks involved in PA largely overlap those involved in the regulation of emotional processes, on the other that brain nociceptive networks are downregulated in parallel with behavioral response.

L'anticipazione del dolore è considerata il momento in cui sorge l'aspettativa. Negli ultimi trent'anni gli turi di neuroimmagine, utilizzando la tomografia ad emissione di positroni (PET) o la risonanza magnetica funzionale (fMRI), suggeriscono che più regioni cerebrali possono svolgere un ruolo fondamentale in questo processo.Nel presente studio, ho usato l'activation likelihood estimation (ALE) meta-analisi, un approccio quantitativo per cercare le aree corticali coinvolte nell'anticipazione del dolore in modelli sperimentali di dolore umano.