A spatiotemporal signature of cortical pain relief by tactile stimulation: An MEG study

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25870511
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Pain science; Basic / Social brain science
• Research Institution: Kyushu University
• Principal Investigator: HAGIWARA KOICHI 九州大学, 医学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (00585888)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TOBIMATSU Shozo 九州大学, 臨床神経生理, 教授 (40164008) ; OKAMOTO Tsuyoshi 九州大学, 基幹教育院, 准教授 (90432913) ; OGATA Katsuya 九州大学, 臨床神経生理, 助教 (50380613)
• Research Collaborator: HAYAMIZU Mariko 九州大学, 麻酔蘇生学講座
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 痛み / 触覚 / 島皮質 / 触覚性鎮痛

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The insular-opercular region integrates multiple sensory inputs, and thus we hypothesized that tactile-induced analgesia occurs in this area. In this study, Aδ (nociceptive) inputs were delivered to the right forearm concurrently with Aβ (tactile) stimulation, and then we characterized the spatiotemporal signature of tactile-induced analgesia using magnetoencephalography. Source localization using minimum norm estimates demonstrated that pain-related activity was located in the posterior insula, whereas tactile-related activity was estimated in the parietal operculum. We also found significant inhibition of pain-related activity in the posterior insula due to cortical modulation. Subjective pain, as evaluated by the visual analog scale, also showed significant reduction. Therefore, our results demonstrated that the multisensory integration within the posterior insula plays a key role in tactile-induced analgesia.

Free Research Field

神経生理学、神経内科学