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Neuroradiology
Published in: Neuroradiology 12/2023

26-10-2023 | Back Pain | Advanced Neuroimaging

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

Authors: NingJian Fan, JiXi Chen, Bing Zhao, LiYun Liu, WeiZhen Yang, Xian Chen, ZhanBin Lu, LiGong Wang, HengCong Cao, AiGuo Ma

Published in: Neuroradiology | Issue 12/2023

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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.
Appendix
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Metadata
Title
Neural correlates of central pain sensitization in chronic low back pain: a resting-state fMRI study
Authors
NingJian Fan
JiXi Chen
Bing Zhao
LiYun Liu
WeiZhen Yang
Xian Chen
ZhanBin Lu
LiGong Wang
HengCong Cao
AiGuo Ma
Publication date
26-10-2023
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Neuroradiology / Issue 12/2023
Print ISSN: 0028-3940
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1920
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-023-03237-3

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