Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center, Technische Universität München, Ismaninger Str. 22, 81675, Munich, Germany.
Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Malmedyweg 15, 48149, Münster, Germany.
Nat Commun. 2018 Oct 26;9(1):4487. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-06875-x.
Pain is a complex phenomenon involving perceptual, motor, and autonomic responses, but how the brain translates noxious stimuli into these different dimensions of pain is unclear. Here, we assessed perceptual, motor, and autonomic responses to brief noxious heat stimuli and recorded brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG) in humans. Multilevel mediation analysis reveals that each pain dimension is subserved by a distinct pattern of EEG responses and, conversely, that each EEG response differentially contributes to the different dimensions of pain. In particular, the translation of noxious stimuli into autonomic and motor responses involved the earliest N1 wave, whereas pain perception was mediated by later N2 and P2 waves. Gamma oscillations mediated motor responses rather than pain perception. These findings represent progress towards a mechanistic understanding of the brain processes translating noxious stimuli into pain and suggest that perceptual, motor, and autonomic dimensions of pain are partially independent rather than serial processes.
疼痛是一种涉及感知、运动和自主反应的复杂现象，但大脑如何将有害刺激转化为这些不同的疼痛维度尚不清楚。在这里，我们评估了人类对短暂有害热刺激的感知、运动和自主反应，并使用脑电图（EEG）记录大脑活动。多层次中介分析表明，每种疼痛维度都由特定的 EEG 反应模式来支持，反之，每种 EEG 反应也都对不同的疼痛维度有不同的贡献。特别是，有害刺激向自主和运动反应的转化涉及最早的 N1 波，而疼痛感知则由较晚的 N2 和 P2 波介导。伽马振荡介导运动反应而不是疼痛感知。这些发现代表了在理解将有害刺激转化为疼痛的大脑过程方面取得的进展，并表明疼痛的感知、运动和自主维度部分是独立的，而不是串联的过程。
