The Spinothalamic System Targets Motor and Sensory Areas in the Cerebral Cortex of Monkeys
TL;DR: The meta-analysis of imaging studies indicates that the human equivalents of the three cingulate motor areas also correspond to sites of pain-related activation, indicating that the substrate exists for the ST system to have an important influence on the cortical control of movement.
Abstract: Classically, the spinothalamic (ST) system has been viewed as the major pathway for transmitting nociceptive and thermoceptive information to the cerebral cortex. There is a long-standing controversy about the cortical targets of this system. We used anterograde transneuronal transport of the H129 strain of herpes simplex virus type 1 in the Cebus monkey to label the cortical areas that receive ST input. We found that the ST system reaches multiple cortical areas located in the contralateral hemisphere. The major targets are granular insular cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex and several cortical areas in the cingulate sulcus. It is noteworthy that comparable cortical regions in humans consistently display activation when subjects are acutely exposed to painful stimuli. We next combined anterograde transneuronal transport of virus with injections of a conventional tracer into the ventral premotor area (PMv). We used the PMv injection to identify the cingulate motor areas on the medial wall of the hemisphere. This combined approach demonstrated that each of the cingulate motor areas receives ST input. Our meta-analysis of imaging studies indicates that the human equivalents of the three cingulate motor areas also correspond to sites of pain-related activation. The cingulate motor areas in the monkey project directly to the primary motor cortex and to the spinal cord. Thus, the substrate exists for the ST system to have an important influence on the cortical control of movement.
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TL;DR: It is demonstrated that negative affect, pain and cognitive control activate an overlapping region of the dorsal cingulate — the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), which constitutes a hub where information about reinforcers can be linked to motor centres responsible for expressing affect and executing goal-directed behaviour.
Abstract: It has been argued that emotion, pain and cognitive control are functionally segregated in distinct subdivisions of the cingulate cortex. However, recent observations encourage a fundamentally different view. Imaging studies demonstrate that negative affect, pain and cognitive control activate an overlapping region of the dorsal cingulate — the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC). Anatomical studies reveal that the aMCC constitutes a hub where information about reinforcers can be linked to motor centres responsible for expressing affect and executing goal-directed behaviour. Computational modelling and other kinds of evidence suggest that this intimacy reflects control processes that are common to all three domains. These observations compel a reconsideration of the dorsal cingulate's contribution to negative affect and pain.
1,714 citations
TL;DR: The accumulating evidence that chronic pain itself alters brain circuitry, including that involved in endogenous pain control, is examined, suggesting that controlling pain becomes increasingly difficult as pain becomes chronic.
Abstract: Chronic pain is one of the most prevalent health problems in our modern world, with millions of people debilitated by conditions such as back pain, headache and arthritis. To address this growing problem, many people are turning to mind-body therapies, including meditation, yoga and cognitive behavioural therapy. This article will review the neural mechanisms underlying the modulation of pain by cognitive and emotional states - important components of mind-body therapies. It will also examine the accumulating evidence that chronic pain itself alters brain circuitry, including that involved in endogenous pain control, suggesting that controlling pain becomes increasingly difficult as pain becomes chronic.
1,359 citations
TL;DR: Feelings constitute a crucial component of the mechanisms of life regulation, from simple to complex, and can be found at all levels of the nervous system, from individual neurons to subcortical nuclei and cortical regions.
Abstract: Feelings are mental experiences of body states. They signify physiological need (for example, hunger), tissue injury (for example, pain), optimal function (for example, well-being), threats to the organism (for example, fear or anger) or specific social interactions (for example, compassion, gratitude or love). Feelings constitute a crucial component of the mechanisms of life regulation, from simple to complex. Their neural substrates can be found at all levels of the nervous system, from individual neurons to subcortical nuclei and cortical regions.
852 citations
TL;DR: Empathy-related insular and cingulate activity may reflect domain-general computations representing and predicting feeling states in self and others, likely guiding adaptive homeostatic responses and goal-directed behavior in dynamic social contexts.
Abstract: Empathy—the ability to share the feelings of others—is fundamental to our emotional and social lives. Previous human imaging studies focusing on empathy for others' pain have consistently shown activations in regions also involved in the direct pain experience, particularly anterior insula and anterior and midcingulate cortex. These findings suggest that empathy is, in part, based on shared representations for firsthand and vicarious experiences of affective states. Empathic responses are not static but can be modulated by person characteristics, such as degree of alexithymia. It has also been shown that contextual appraisal, including perceived fairness or group membership of others, may modulate empathic neuronal activations. Empathy often involves coactivations in further networks associated with social cognition, depending on the specific situation and information available in the environment. Empathy-related insular and cingulate activity may reflect domain-general computations representing and predi...
800 citations
TL;DR: An alternative view of the functional significance of this cortical network is proposed, in which it reflects a system involved in detecting, orienting attention towards, and reacting to the occurrence of salient sensory events, regardless of the sensory channel through which these events are conveyed.
733 citations
Cites background from "The Spinothalamic System Targets Mo..."
...…longer 23 constitute a sensory-specific cortical network, but, instead, it would constitute an 24 The Pain Matrix Reloaded 28 action-specific cortical network (Dum et al., 2009) representing the activity by which 1 the individual is able to identify and responds adequately to an immediate threat....
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...In that perspective, what has been previously labeled as the ‘‘pain matrix’’ would no longer constitute a sensory-specific cortical network, but, instead, it would constitute an action-specific cortical network (Dum et al., 2009) representing the activity by which the individual is able to identify and responds adequately to an immediate threat....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1988
TL;DR: Direct and Indirect Radiologic Localization Reference System: Basal Brain Line CA-CP Cerebral Structures in Three-Dimensional Space Practical Examples for the Use of the Atlas in Neuroradiologic Examinations Three- Dimensional Atlas of a Human Brain Nomenclature-Abbreviations Anatomic Index Conclusions.
Abstract: Direct and Indirect Radiologic Localization Reference System: Basal Brain Line CA-CP Cerebral Structures in Three-Dimensional Space Practical Examples for the Use of the Atlas in Neuroradiologic Examinations Three-Dimensional Atlas of a Human Brain Nomenclature-Abbreviations Anatomic Index Conclusions.
9,491 citations
TL;DR: Only that part of the pain network associated with its affective qualities, but not its sensory qualities, mediates empathy, suggesting that the neural substrate for empathic experience does not involve the entire "pain matrix".
Abstract: Our ability to have an experience of another's pain is characteristic of empathy. Using functional imaging, we assessed brain activity while volunteers experienced a painful stimulus and compared it to that elicited when they observed a signal indicating that their loved one--present in the same room--was receiving a similar pain stimulus. Bilateral anterior insula (AI), rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), brainstem, and cerebellum were activated when subjects received pain and also by a signal that a loved one experienced pain. AI and ACC activation correlated with individual empathy scores. Activity in the posterior insula/secondary somatosensory cortex, the sensorimotor cortex (SI/MI), and the caudal ACC was specific to receiving pain. Thus, a neural response in AI and rostral ACC, activated in common for "self" and "other" conditions, suggests that the neural substrate for empathic experience does not involve the entire "pain matrix." We conclude that only that part of the pain network associated with its affective qualities, but not its sensory qualities, mediates empathy.
3,425 citations
"The Spinothalamic System Targets Mo..." refers background in this paper
...Classically, the cingulate cortex has been considered to be part of the limbic system and to be involved in processing the affective-motivational aspects of pain (Peyron et al., 2000; Singer et al., 2004) (for review, see Vogt, 2005)....
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TL;DR: A systematic review of the literature regarding how activity in diverse brain regions creates and modulates the experience of acute and chronic pain states, emphasizing the contribution of various imaging techniques to emerging concepts is presented in this paper.
2,686 citations
TL;DR: These findings provide direct experimental evidence in humans linking frontal-lobe limbic activity with pain affect, as originally suggested by early clinical lesion studies.
Abstract: Recent evidence demonstrating multiple regions of human cerebral cortex activated by pain has prompted speculation about their individual contributions to this complex experience. To differentiate cortical areas involved in pain affect, hypnotic suggestions were used to alter selectively the unpleasantness of noxious stimuli, without changing the perceived intensity. Positron emission tomography revealed significant changes in pain-evoked activity within anterior cingulate cortex, consistent with the encoding of perceived unpleasantness, whereas primary somatosensory cortex activation was unaltered. These findings provide direct experimental evidence in humans linking frontal-lobe limbic activity with pain affect, as originally suggested by early clinical lesion studies.
2,444 citations
"The Spinothalamic System Targets Mo..." refers background in this paper
...Indeed, there is evidence that some activations in anterior cingulate cortex are modulated by pain unpleasantness (affect), whereas activations in somatosensory areas are generally modulated by pain intensity and localization (Rainville et al., 1997; Hofbauer et al., 2001; Kulkarni et al., 2005)....
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