School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
Centre for Advanced Imaging, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.
Sci Rep. 2024 Sep 14;14(1):21476. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-69973-5.
The experience of itch and its associated chronic conditions (i.e., atopic dermatitis) form a significant burden of disease. Knowledge of how the brain processes itch, that might occur uniquely for chronic itch populations, could be used to guide more effective psychotherapeutic interventions for these groups. To build the evidence base for such approaches, we conducted a series of coordinates-based fMRI analyses, to identify the shared neural mechanisms for itch across the published literature. Upon so doing, we identified a core "itch network" that spans the Basal Ganglia/Thalamus, Claustrum and Insula. Additionally, we found evidence that the Paracentral Lobule and Medial Frontal Gyrus, regions associated with cognitive control and response inhibition, deactivate during itch. Interestingly, a separate analysis for chronic itch populations identified significant recruitment of the Left Paracentral Lobule, potentially suggesting the recruitment of cognitive control mechanisms to resist the urge to scratch. We position these results in light of further integrative studies that could use neuroimaging alongside clinical studies, to explore how transdiagnostic psychological approaches-such as mindfulness and compassion training-might help to improve quality of life for individuals who experience chronic itch.
瘙痒及其相关的慢性疾病（例如特应性皮炎）给患者带来了巨大的疾病负担。了解大脑如何处理瘙痒（这种处理方式可能是慢性瘙痒人群所特有的），可以指导针对这些人群的更有效的心理治疗干预。为了为这类方法建立证据基础，我们进行了一系列基于坐标的 fMRI 分析，以确定已发表文献中瘙痒的共享神经机制。这样做的过程中，我们发现了一个跨越基底神经节/丘脑、屏状核和脑岛的核心“瘙痒网络”。此外，我们还发现了证据表明，与认知控制和反应抑制相关的旁中央小叶和内侧额回在瘙痒时会失活。有趣的是，对慢性瘙痒人群的单独分析表明左旁中央小叶有显著的招募，这可能表明招募了认知控制机制来抵抗抓挠的冲动。我们将这些结果与进一步的综合研究联系起来，这些研究可以将神经影像学与临床研究结合起来，探索跨诊断心理方法（如正念和同情心训练）如何帮助改善经历慢性瘙痒的个体的生活质量。
