| 1. |
- Böhme, Rebecca, et al.
(författare)
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Anhedonia to Gentle Touch in Fibromyalgia: Normal Sensory Processing but Abnormal Evaluation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Brain Sciences. - : MDPI. - 2076-3425. ; 10:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Social touch is important for interpersonal interaction. Gentle touch and slow brushing are typically perceived as pleasant, the degree of pleasantness is linked to the activity of the C-tactile (CT) fibers, a class of unmyelinated nerves in the skin. The inability to experience pleasure in general is called anhedonia, a common phenomenon in the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia. Here, we studied the perception and cortical processing of gentle touch in a well-characterized cohort of fibromyalgia. Patients and controls participated in functional brain imaging while receiving tactile stimuli (brushing) on the forearm. They were asked to provide ratings of pleasantness of the tactile stimulus and ongoing pain. We found high distress, pain catastrophizing, and insomnia, and a low perceived state of health in fibromyalgia. Further, patients rated both slow (CT-optimal) and fast (CT-suboptimal) brushing as less pleasant than healthy participants. While there was no difference in brain activity during touch, patients showed deactivation in the right posterior insula (contralateral to the stimulated arm) during pleasantness rating and activation during pain rating. The opposite pattern was observed in healthy participants. Voxel-based morphometry analysis revealed reduced grey matter density in patients, in the bilateral hippocampus and anterior insula. Our results suggest anhedonia to gentle touch in fibromyalgia with intact early-stage sensory processing but dysfunctional evaluative processing. These findings contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying anhedonia in fibromyalgia.
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| 2. |
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| 3. |
- Gauffin, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive problems in young adults with epilepsy : Language deficits correlate to brain activation and self-esteem
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- People with epilepsy often display cognitive decline. Language function in epilepsy has been most thoroughly studied in temporal lobe epilepsy, but the impact of language deficits in epilepsy is not fully understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of epilepsy on language function with functional magnetic resonance imaging of brain activation, with behavioral methods and to relate language performance to demographic data, self-esteem and Quality of life. We specifically aimed to investigate if variation in epilepsy origin would relate to differences in language performance and if these differences could be associated with specific language activation patterns in the brain. We recruited people with epilepsy (29 in total), with focal onset seizures in either the left or right hemispheres or with generalized epilepsy; and 27 matching healthy controls. The participants’ language skills were measured with a phonemic word fluency test and a broader test measuring higher language functions. Functional magnetic resonance images of the brain were obtained during a word fluency and a sentence reading paradigm. Questionnaires on self-esteem and quality of life were collected. People with epilepsy of both focal and generalized origin had impaired function in semantic and verbal fluency tasks compared to the controls. The causes of language impairment were multifactorial; the most important determinants were education and onset age of epilepsy. Impaired language function was correlated to low self-esteem for participants with focal onset seizures; however Quality of life did not seem to be affected by language impairment. The functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation demonstrated altered functional activity during language tasks for participants with epilepsy compared to healthy controls. In epilepsy with focal seizures originating in the left hemisphere we found increased bilateral activation of supporting areas in the anterior mid-cingulate cortex and the left anterior ventral insula, indicating a compensational functional reorganization. In generalized epilepsy, the functional language network showed an imbalance expressed as an inadequate suppression of activation in the left anterior temporal lobe during semantic processing. Our study shows not only that reduced language functioning is present in people with epilepsy other than in the temporal lobe, but also that frequency of convulsive seizures correlates to language impairment. For patients with focalized seizures, low self esteem correlated also to language impairment. Our results highlight the importance of addressing the negative consequences of language decline in people with epilepsy of both focal and generalized origin.
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| 4. |
- Gauffin, Helena, et al.
(författare)
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Impaired language function in generalized epilepsy : Inadequate suppression of the default mode network
- 2013
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Ingår i: Epilepsy & Behavior. - : Elsevier. - 1525-5050 .- 1525-5069. ; 28:1, s. 26-35
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We aimed to study the effect of a potential default mode network (DMN) dysfunction on language performance in epilepsy. Language dysfunction in focal epilepsy has previously been connected to brain damage in language-associated cortical areas. In this work, we studied generalized epilepsy (GE) without focal brain damage to see if the language function was impaired. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate if the DMN was involved. Eleven persons with GE and 28 healthy controls were examined with fMRI during a sentence-reading task. We demonstrated impaired language function, reduced suppression of DMN, and, specifically, an inadequate suppression of activation in the left anterior temporal lobe and the posterior cingulate cortex, as well as an aberrant activation in the right hippocampal formation. Our results highlight the presence of language decline in people with epilepsy of not only focal but also generalized origin.
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| 5. |
- Gerdle, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Evidence of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Fibromyalgia : Deviating Muscle Energy Metabolism Detected Using Microdialysis and Magnetic Resonance
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Medicine. - : MDPI. - 2077-0383. ; 9:11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In fibromyalgia (FM) muscle metabolism, studies are sparse and conflicting associations have been found between muscle metabolism and pain aspects. This study compared alterations in metabolic substances and blood flow in erector spinae and trapezius of FM patients and healthy controls. FM patients (n = 33) and healthy controls (n = 31) underwent a clinical examination that included pressure pain thresholds and physical tests, completion of a health questionnaire, participation in microdialysis investigations of the etrapezius and erector spinae muscles, and also underwent phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the erector spinae muscle. At the baseline, FM had significantly higher levels of pyruvate in both muscles. Significantly lower concentrations of phosphocreatine (PCr) and nucleotide triphosphate (mainly adenosine triphosphate) in erector spinae were found in FM. Blood flow in erector spinae was significantly lower in FM. Significant associations between metabolic variables and pain aspects (pain intensity and pressure pain threshold PPT) were found in FM. Our results suggest that FM has mitochondrial dysfunction, although it is unclear whether inactivity, obesity, aging, and pain are causes of, the results of, or coincidental to the mitochondrial dysfunction. The significant regressions of pain intensity and PPT in FM agree with other studies reporting associations between peripheral biological factors and pain aspects.
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| 6. |
- Lundberg, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Pain disrupts thalamic and nucleus accumbens functional connectivity in chronic widespread pain
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Chronic widespread pain (CWP) such as fibromyalgia or is characterized by altered neural functional connectivity (fc) [1,2]. We investigated short-term neural plasticity in CWP by observing whether fc would change during resting state after a pressure-pain experience, and mainly expected changes in pain processing pathways.Methods: Resting state fMRI was obtained from 38 CWP and 36 controls pre and post pain-stimulation session (10 min rest, 20 min pain, 10 min rest) at a Philips 3T Ingenia, SENSE coil, single-shot EPI gradient echo, TR/TE/FA/resolution = 2.2s/35ms/77°/3mm3, cerebrum coverage. Preprocessing in SPM12 for realigned, normalized and smoothed images (8mm FWHM). A ROI-to-ROI fc analysis (with CONN-toolbox [3]) was employed to test for Pre-/PostPain and group effects, at p<0.05 FDR corrected.Results: Group-independent Pre- vs PostPain fc disruptions were seen between thalamus and temporal regions, right hippocampus, left amygdala. PostPain fc disruptions specific to CWP were observed between left nucleus accumbens (NAc) and bilateral thalamus, cuneus and intercalcarine sulcus.Conclusions: PostPain fc showed changed thalamic connections. The thalamus modulates pain information and shows decreased blood flow in fibromyalgia [4]. Specific to CWP was a PostPain fc decrease between NAcc and thalamus as well as occipital lobe. The NAc is part of the cortical-basal ganglia-thalamic loop, and affected in fibromyalgia in the form of a decrease in mu-opioid receptor availability [5]. Aberrant functioning of NAc in a mouse model of chronic pain was linked to decreased motivation [6], in line with the NAc role in integrating cognitive and affective information for action selection [7]. Depression is also associated with disrupted fc with the cuneus [8], alterations in thalamic fc have also been related to persisting depression [9] The results indicate that CWP experience enhanced negative effects of pain on affective processing pathways, spurring further analysis of the impact of depression and anxiety symptoms in CWP.
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| 9. |
- Perini, Irene, et al.
(författare)
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Mutation Carriers with Reduced C-Afferent Density Reveal Cortical Dynamics of Pain-Action Relationship during Acute Pain
- 2020
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Ingår i: Cerebral Cortex. - : Oxford University Press. - 1047-3211 .- 1460-2199. ; 30:9, s. 4858-4870
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The evidence that action shapes perception has become widely accepted, for example, in the domain of vision. However, the manner in which action-relevant factors might influence the neural dynamics of acute pain processing has remained underexplored, particularly the functional roles of anterior insula (AI) and midanterior cingulate cortex (mid-ACC), which are frequently implicated in acute pain. To address this, we examined a unique group of heterozygous carriers of the rare R221W mutation on the nerve growth factor (NGF) gene. R221W carriers show a congenitally reduced density of C-nociceptor afferent nerves in the periphery, but can nonetheless distinguish between painful and nonpainful stimulations. Despite this, carriers display a tendency to underreact to acute pain behaviorally, thus exposing a potential functional gap in the pain-action relationship and allowing closer investigation of how the brain integrates pain and action information. Heterozygous R221W carriers and matched controls performed a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task designed to dissociate stimulus type (painful or innocuous) from current behavioral relevance (relevant or irrelevant), by instructing participants to either press or refrain from pressing a button during thermal stimulation. Carriers subjective pain thresholds did not differ from controls, but the carrier group showed decreased task accuracy. Hemodynamic activation in AI covaried with task performance, revealing a functional role in pain-action integration with increased responses for task-relevant painful stimulation ("signal," requiring button-press execution) over task-irrelevant stimulation ("noise," requiring button-press suppression). As predicted, mid-ACC activation was associated with action execution regardless of pain. Functional connectivity between AI and mid-ACC increased as a function of reported urge to withdraw from the stimulus, suggesting a joint role for these regions in motivated action during pain. The carrier group showed greater activation of primary sensorimotor cortices-but not the AI and mid-ACC regions-during pain and action, suggesting compensatory processing. These findings indicate a critical role for the AI-mid-ACC axis in supporting a flexible, adaptive action selection during pain, alongside the accompanying subjective experience of an urge to escape the pain.
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| 10. |
- Van Ettinger-Veenstra, Helene, et al.
(författare)
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Higher Language Ability is Related to Angular Gyrus Activation Increase During Semantic Processing, Independent of Sentence Incongruency
- 2016
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. - : FRONTIERS MEDIA SA. - 1662-5161. ; 10:110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates the relation between individual language ability and neural semantic processing abilities. Our aim was to explore whether high-level language ability would correlate to decreased activation in language-specific regions or rather increased activation in supporting language regions during processing of sentences. Moreover, we were interested if observed neural activation patterns are modulated by semantic incongruency similarly to previously observed changes upon syntactic congruency modulation. We investigated 27 healthy adults with a sentence reading task which tapped language comprehension and inference, and modulated sentence congruency employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We assessed the relation between neural activation, congruency modulation, and test performance on a high-level language ability assessment with multiple regression analysis. Our results showed increased activation in the left-hemispheric angular gyrus extending to the temporal lobe related to high language ability. This effect was independent of semantic congruency, and no significant relation between language ability and incongruency modulation was observed. Furthermore, there was a significant increase of activation in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) bilaterally when the sentences were incongruent, indicating that processing incongruent sentences was more demanding than processing congruent sentences and required increased activation in language regions. The correlation of high-level language ability with increased rather than decreased activation in the left angular gyrus, a region specific for language processing, is opposed to what the neural efficiency hypothesis would predict. We can conclude that no evidence is found for an interaction between semantic congruency related brain activation and highlevel language performance, even though the semantic incongruent condition shows to be more demanding and evoking more neural activation.
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