Brain signature of pain experience

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K07930
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 52010:General internal medicine-related
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Kano Michiko 東北大学, 医学系研究科, 大学院非常勤講師 (20344658)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 内臓痛 / 脳機能画像 / 機械学習 / 予測モデル / 過敏性腸症候群

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Using the Neurologic Pain Signature (NPS), we evaluated visceral and somatic pain brain activity data obtained from multiple facilities. It was confirmed that NPS responded across pain modalities. Increased engagement of the somatomotor network for somatic pain and the frontoparietal network for visceral stimulation provided a double dissociation between these types of pain.
We compared the network functional characteristics between patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and controls using graph analysis of resting-state brain functional imaging data. There were no significant differences in global normalized graph measures, hubs, or modularity tructures between the two groups. However, there was a significant difference in the association between psychological distress and the score of path length.
Additionally, we are developing brain activity patterns that can predict visceral hypersensitivity.

Free Research Field

心身医学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

過敏性腸症候群をはじめとする機能性消化管障害では、痛みの生じている局所（腹部など）に痛みを説明しうる器質的な異常が必ずしも存在するわけではなく、体と脳の相互作用の変化、中でも中枢での痛みの感じ方がその病態の一つと考えられている。本研究では、内臓痛を誘発した際の脳活動、および安静時の脳活動から、過敏性腸症候群に特異的なパターンを抽出し、脳活動からその病理の中心である内臓知覚過敏の診断につなげようという試みである。痛みに関連する脳活動の基準となるパターンに照合し、体性痛、内臓痛の評価をし、さらに疾患群での特異的な脳活動パターンを解析している。