Linking Pain Sensation to the Autonomic Nervous System: The Role of the Anterior Cingulate and Periaqueductal Gray Resting-State Networks.

ABSTRACT: There are bi-directional interactions between the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and pain. This is likely underpinned by a substantial overlap between brain areas of the central autonomic network and areas involved in pain processing and modulation. To date, however, relatively little is known about the neuronal substrates of the ANS-pain association. Here, we acquired resting state fMRI scans in 21 healthy subjects at rest and during tonic noxious cold stimulation. As indicators of autonomic function, we examined how heart rate variability (HRV) frequency measures were influenced by tonic noxious stimulation and how these variables related to participants' pain perception and to brain functional connectivity in regions known to play a role in both ANS regulation and pain perception, namel

SUBMITTER: Hohenschurz-Schmidt DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7527240 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature