Brain correlates of subjective reality of physically and psychologically induced pain.

ABSTRACT: Meaningful behavior requires successful differentiation of events surfacing from one's mind from those arising from the external world. Such judgements may be especially demanding during pain because of the strong contribution from psychological factors to this experience. It is unknown how the subjective reality of pain (SRP) is constructed in the human brain, and neuronal mechanisms of the subjective reality are poorly understood in general. To address these questions, 14 suggestion-prone healthy subjects rated reality of pain that was induced either by laser pulses to the skin or by hypnotic suggestion during functional MRI. Both pain states were associated with activation of the brain's pain circuitry. During laser stimulation, the sensory parts of this circuitry were activated more st

SUBMITTER: Raij TT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC548310 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature