May A
Department of Systems Neuroscience, Universitäts-Krankenhaus Eppendorf, Martinistr. 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Neurol Sci. 2007 May;28 Suppl 2:S101-7. doi: 10.1007/s10072-007-0760-x.
The neuroimaging of experimental and clinical pain has revolutionised our understanding of the physiological responses to pain and paved the way for a better understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain syndromes. Extensive research on the central mechanisms regarding the sensory-discriminative dimensions of pain have revealed a complex network of cortical and subcortical brain structures involved in the transmission and integration of pain, the so-called pain matrix. Although brain imaging and pharmacological studies have generated some insight into the circuitry that may be involved in the generation of chronic pain symptoms, further research into brain imaging of chronic pain is clearly warranted. However, modern neuroimaging suggests that the chronification of pain (and headaches) involves functional and structural plasticity of both the central and peripheral nervous system.
实验性疼痛和临床疼痛的神经影像学已经彻底改变了我们对疼痛生理反应的理解，并为更好地理解慢性疼痛综合征的病理生理学铺平了道路。关于疼痛感觉辨别维度的中枢机制的广泛研究揭示了一个复杂的大脑皮质和皮质下脑结构网络，这些结构参与疼痛的传递和整合，即所谓的疼痛矩阵。尽管脑成像和药理学研究已经对可能参与慢性疼痛症状产生的神经回路有了一些了解，但显然有必要对慢性疼痛的脑成像进行进一步研究。然而，现代神经影像学表明，疼痛（和头痛）的慢性化涉及中枢和外周神经系统的功能和结构可塑性。
