Pain is a negative feeling that we want to get rid of as soon as possible. In order to protect our bodies, we react for example by withdrawing the hand. This action is usually understood as the consequence of the perception of pain. A research team has now shown that perception, the impulse to act and provision of energy to do so take place in the brain simultaneously and not, as was expected, one after the other.
Researchers investigated in detail how a painful event is processed in the brain. For the first time they were able to show that the brain yields at least three different responses to a painful stimulus, and that these responses are simultaneous and independent of one another. The results may have fundamental repercussions for the understanding of pain and treatment of pain patients.
Pain embodies at least three factors: Perception of pain, an action such as withdrawing the hand from a hot stove, and a response of the autonomic nervous system which provides the necessary energy for the action. The autonomic nervous system controls essential functions such as heart rate, breathing, digestion and metabolism.
In their experiments, the researchers applied short pain stimuli of varying strengths to the back of the hand of healthy volunteers. The perception of pain was determined based on the participants evaluation of the stimulus on a rating scale. The team investigated the action component based on the reaction time the subjects needed to withdraw their fingers in response to the stimulus. Moreover, to determine the response of the autonomic nervous system, the team measured the sweat production at the interior surface of the hand.
For the entire duration of the experiment, brain activity was measured using electroencephalography (EEG). This method provides highly precise information on when and how nerve cells react to pain stimuli.
The team applied a statistical method known as mediation analysis to the data. The method has been well established in the social sciences for some time now; however, this was its first application to EEG data. The team was thus able to find out which brain responses serve the three pain components, and when exactly they take place.
The results of the evaluations surprised the researchers: "For the first time we were able to see that the brain responses to the pain components did not take place one after the other, but rather in part simultaneously. This means that the preparation for action and the provision of energy are not entirely dependent on the perception of pain; instead they are in part triggered independently of one another," explains the study's lead author.
Although at first rather abstract, these findings could be of great importance to patients suffering from chronic pain. The authors recommend considering all three components of pain in comprehensive pain therapy: "For chronic pain patients, it is possible that not only the perception of pain, but also the preparation and performance of actions against pain and the provision of the energy to do so are changed. Our findings are thus a biological argument for holistic pain therapy approaches that take different pain components into account. Such approaches would include psychotherapy and drug therapy as well as physiotherapy," the author says.
https://www.tum.de/nc/en/about-tum/news/press-releases/detail/article/35139/
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-06875-x
http://sciencemission.com/site/index.php?page=news&type=view&id=publications%2Fdistinct-patterns-of&filter=22
Latest News
Brain hormone regulate both…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
Blocking long non-coding RN…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
Artificial intelligence and…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
Blood-brain barrier protein…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
Preventing heart attacks an…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
Other Top Stories
Linking La Niņa climate cycle to increased diarrhea
Read more
Lead exposure linked to decreased brain volume in adolescents
Read more
How psychedelics may enhance mood at mass gatherings
Read more
New insights into neurobiology of decision-making and imagination
Read more
The pheromone darcin drives a circuit for innate and reinforced beh…
Read more
Protocols
Integration of Kupffer cell…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Mar
A mouse DRG genetic toolkit…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
An optogenetic method for t…
By newseditor
Posted 13 Mar
Profiling native pulmonary…
By newseditor
Posted 08 Mar
Neuromuscular organoids mod…
By newseditor
Posted 06 Mar
Publications
Synaptopathy: presynaptic c…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Mar
Allergic Rhinitis
By newseditor
Posted 18 Mar
ALK upregulates POSTN and W…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Mar
PRODH safeguards human naiv…
By newseditor
Posted 18 Mar
Secretin-dependent signals…
By newseditor
Posted 17 Mar
Presentations
Hydrogels in Drug Delivery
By newseditor
Posted 12 Apr
Lipids
By newseditor
Posted 31 Dec
Cell biology of carbohydrat…
By newseditor
Posted 29 Nov
RNA interference (RNAi)
By newseditor
Posted 23 Oct
RNA structure and functions
By newseditor
Posted 19 Oct
Posters
A chemical biology/modular…
By newseditor
Posted 22 Aug
Single-molecule covalent ma…
By newseditor
Posted 04 Jul
ASCO-2020-HEALTH SERVICES R…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-HEAD AND NECK CANCER
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar
ASCO-2020-GENITOURINARY CAN…
By newseditor
Posted 23 Mar