Spinal cord neural activity of patients with fibromyalgia and healthy controls during temporal summation of pain: an fMRI study
Roland Staud, Jeff Boissoneault, Song Lai, Marlin S. Mejia, Riddhi Ramanlal, Melyssa M. Godfrey, Patrick W. Stroman
Abstract
"Windup" and its behavioral correlate "temporal-summation-of-second pain" (TSSP) represent spinal cord mechanisms of pain augmentation associated with central sensitization and chronic pain. Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain disorder, where abnormal TSSP has been demonstrated. We used fMRI to study spinal cord and brainstem activation during TSSP. We characterized the time course of spinal cord and brainstem BOLD activity during TSSP which showed abnormal brainstem activity in patients with FM, possibly due to deficient pain modulation.
Topics & Concepts
BrainstemSpinal cordFunctional magnetic resonance imagingFibromyalgiaNociceptionNeuroscienceMedicineChronic painSummationPsychologyHyperalgesiaAnesthesiaInternal medicineStimulationReceptorMusculoskeletal pain and rehabilitationFibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ResearchPain Mechanisms and Treatments