Krause T, Asseyer S, Taskin B, Flöel A, Witte A V, Mueller K, Fiebach J B, Villringer K, Villringer A, Jungehulsing G J
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Neurology, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Centre for Stroke Research, 12200 Berlin, Germany.
Cereb Cortex. 2016 Jan;26(1):80-88. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhu177. Epub 2014 Aug 16.
It has been proposed that cortical structural plasticity plays a crucial role in the emergence and maintenance of chronic pain. Various distinct pain syndromes have accordingly been linked to specific patterns of decreases in regional gray matter volume (GMV). However, it is not known whether central poststroke pain (CPSP) is also associated with cortical structural plasticity. To determine this, we employed T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging at 3 T and voxel-based morphometry in 45 patients suffering from chronic subcortical sensory stroke with (n = 23) and without CPSP (n = 22), and healthy matched controls (n = 31). CPSP patients showed decreases in GMV in comparison to healthy controls, involving secondary somatosensory cortex (S2), anterior as well as posterior insular cortex, ventrolateral prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortex, temporal cortex, and nucleus accumbens. Comparing CPSP patients to nonpain patients revealed a similar but more restricted pattern of atrophy comprising S2, ventrolateral prefrontal and temporal cortex. Additionally, GMV in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex negatively correlated to pain intensity ratings. This shows for the first time that CPSP is accompanied by a unique pattern of widespread structural plasticity, which involves the sensory-discriminative areas of insular/somatosensory cortex, but also expands into prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum, where emotional aspects of pain are processed.
有人提出,皮质结构可塑性在慢性疼痛的产生和维持中起关键作用。相应地,各种不同的疼痛综合征与区域灰质体积(GMV)减少的特定模式相关联。然而,尚不清楚中风后中枢性疼痛(CPSP)是否也与皮质结构可塑性有关。为了确定这一点,我们对45例患有慢性皮质下感觉性中风且伴有(n = 23)和不伴有CPSP(n = 22)的患者以及健康匹配对照组(n = 31)进行了3T的T1加权磁共振成像和基于体素的形态学测量。与健康对照组相比,CPSP患者的GMV减少,涉及次级体感皮层(S2)、前岛叶和后岛叶皮层、腹外侧前额叶和眶额皮层、颞叶皮层以及伏隔核。将CPSP患者与无疼痛患者进行比较,发现萎缩模式相似但更局限,包括S2、腹外侧前额叶和颞叶皮层。此外,腹内侧前额叶皮层的GMV与疼痛强度评分呈负相关。这首次表明,CPSP伴随着一种独特的广泛结构可塑性模式,该模式涉及岛叶/体感皮层的感觉辨别区域,但也扩展到前额叶皮层和腹侧纹状体,在那里处理疼痛的情感方面。