Chronic pain-related remodeling of cerebral cortex – ‘pain memory’: a possible target for treatment of chronic pain

Papers of special note have been highlighted as: ▪ of interest

References

• 1  Breivik H, Collett B, Ventafridda V, Cohen R, Gallacher D. Survey of chronic pain in Europe: prevalence, impact on daily life, and treatment. Eur. J. Pain10,287–333 (2006).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 2  Johannes CB, Le TK, Zhou X, Johnston JA, Dworkin RH. The prevalence of chronic pain in United States adults: results of an internet-based survey. J. Pain11(11),1230–1239 (2010).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 3  Von Hehn CA, Baron R, Woolf CJ. Deconstructing the neuropathic pain phenotype to reveal neural mechanisms. Neuron73(4),638–652 (2012).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 4  Serra J. Microneurography findings in fibromyalgia patients. Presented at: 14th World Congress of Pain. Milan, Italy (2012).
  Google Scholar
• 5  Strassman AM, Levy D. Response properties of dural nociceptors in relation to headache. J. Neurophysiol.95(3),1298–1306 (2006).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 6  Woolf CJ, Salter MW. Neuronal plasticity: increasing the gain in pain. Science288(5472),1765–1769 (2000).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 7  Basbaum AI, Bautista DM, Scherrer GG, Julius D. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of pain. Cell139(2),267–284 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 8  Binshtok AM. Mechanisms of nociceptive transduction and transmission: a machinery for pain sensation and tools for selective analgesia. Int. Rev. Neurobiol.97,143–177 (2011).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 9  Costigan M, Scholz J, Woolf CJ. Neuropathic pain: a maladaptive response of the nervous system to damage. Ann. Rev. Neurosci.32,1–32 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 10  Hucho T, Levine JD. Signaling pathways in sensitization: toward a nociceptor cell biology. Neuron55(3),365–376 (2007).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 11  Latremoliere A, Woolf CJ. Central sensitization: a generator of pain hypersensitivity by central neural plasticity. J. Pain10,895–926 (2009).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 12  Apkarian AV, Bushnell MC, Treede RD, Zubieta JK. Human brain mechanisms of pain perception and regulation in health and disease. Eur. J. Pain9(4),463–484 (2005).▪ Systematic review summarizing activation of brain areas in response to various pain states; the authors identified a brain network in response to acute pain.
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 13  Tracey I, Mantyh PW. The cerebral signature for pain perception and its modulation. Neuron55(3),377–391 (2007).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 14  Seifert F, Maihöfner C. Central mechanisms of experimental and chronic neuropathic pain: findings from functional imaging studies. Cell Mol. Life Sci.66(3),375–390 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 15  Treede RD, Kenshalo DR, Gracely RH, Jones AK. The cortical representation of pain. Pain79(2–3),105–111 (1999).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 16  Peyron R, Laurent B, García-Larrea L. Functional imaging of brain responses to pain. A review and meta-analysis. Neurophysiol. Clin.30(5),263–288 (2000).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 17  Jensen KB, Loitoile R, Kosek E et al. Patients with fibromyalgia display less functional connectivity in the brain’s pain inhibitory network. Mol. Pain8,32 (2012).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 18  Sprenger T, Valet M, Boecker H et al. Opioidergic activation in the medial pain system after heat pain. Pain122(1–2),63–67 (2006).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 19  Maihöfner C, Forster C, Birklein F, Neundörfer B, Handwerker HO. Brain processing during mechanical hyperalgesia in complex regional pain syndrome: a functional MRI study. Pain114(1–2),93–103 (2005).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 20  Iannetti GD, Hughes NP, Lee MC, Mouraux A. Determinants of laser-evoked EEG responses: pain perception or stimulus saliency? J. Neurophysiol.100(2),815–828 (2008).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 21  Legrain V, Iannetti GD, Plaghki L, Mouraux A. The pain matrix reloaded: a salience detection system for the body. Prog. Neurobiol.93(1),111–124 (2011).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 22  Wiech K, Lin CS, Brodersen KH, Bingel U, Ploner M, Tracey I. Anterior insula integrates information about salience into perceptual decisions about pain. J. Neurosci.30(48),16324–16331 (2010).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 23  Gracely RH, Petzke F, Wolf JM, Clauw DJ. Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence of augmented pain processing in fibromyalgia. Arthritis Rheum.46(5),1333–1343 (2002).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 24  Giesecke T, Gracely RH, Grant MA et al. Evidence of augmented central pain processing in idiopathic chronic low back pain. Arthritis Rheum.50(2),613–623 (2004).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 25  Becerra L, Morris S, Bazes S et al. Trigeminal neuropathic pain alters responses in CNS circuits to mechanical (brush) and thermal (cold and heat) stimuli. J. Neurosci.26(42),10646–10657 (2006).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 26  Maihöfner C, Handwerker HO, Birklein F. Functional imaging of allodynia in complex regional pain syndrome. Neurology66(5),711–717 (2006).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 27  Peyron R, Schneider F, Faillenot I et al. An fMRI study of cortical representation of mechanical allodynia in patients with neuropathic pain. Neurology63(10),1838–1846 (2004).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 28  Ducreux D, Attal N, Parker F, Bouhassira D. Mechanisms of central neuropathic pain: a combined psychophysical and fMRI study in syringomyelia. Brain129(Pt 4),963–976 (2006).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 29  Pleger B, Ragert P, Schwenkreis P et al. Patterns of cortical reorganization parallel impaired tactile discrimination and pain intensity in complex regional pain syndrome. Neuroimage32(2),503–510 (2006).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 30  Wrigley PJ, Press SR, Gustin SM et al. Neuropathic pain and primary somatosensory cortex reorganization following spinal cord injury. Pain141(1–2),52–59 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 31  Lotze M, Flor H, Grodd W, Larbig W, Birbaumer N. Phantom movements and pain. An fMRI study in upper limb amputees. Brain124(Pt 11),2268–2277 (2001).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 32  Baliki MN, Chialvo DR, Geha PY et al. Chronic pain and the emotional brain: specific brain activity associated with spontaneous fluctuations of intensity of chronic back pain. J. Neurosci.26(47),12165–12173 (2006).▪ The authors identified regions associated with spontaneous pain, and indicated a difference in activation location that was associated with a difference in type of pain, thus implicating a strong emotional component.
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 33  Maciver K, Lloyd DM, Kelly S, Roberts N, Nurmikko T. Phantom limb pain, cortical reorganization and the therapeutic effect of mental imagery. Brain131(Pt 8),2181–2191 (2008).▪ Demonstrated a cortical reorganization in individuals with phantom pain; following training using a mental imagery technique, a decrease in intensity of pain corresponded to the elimination of cortical reorganization, indicating plastic changes and the effectiveness of treatment.
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 34  Wei F, Qiu CS, Kim SJ et al. Genetic elimination of behavioral sensitization in mice lacking calmodulin-stimulated adenylyl cyclases. Neuron36(4),713–726 (2002).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 35  Li XY, Ko HG, Chen T et al. Alleviating neuropathic pain hypersensitivity by inhibiting PKMzeta in the anterior cingulate cortex. Science330(6009),1400–1404 (2010).▪ Demonstrates that blockade of memory-related changes in anterior cingulate cortex decreased neuropathic injury-induced pain.
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 36  Wager TD, Rilling JK, Smith EE et al. Placebo-induced changes in fMRI in the anticipation and experience of pain. Science303(5661),1162–1167 (2004).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 37  Petrovic P, Dietrich T, Fransson P, Andersson J, Carlsson K, Ingvar M. Placebo in emotional processing – induced expectations of anxiety relief activate a generalized modulatory network. Neuron46(6),957–969 (2005).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 38  Fields H. State-dependent opioid control of pain. Nat. Rev. Neurosci.5(7),565–575 (2004).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 39  Geha PY, Baliki MN, Chialvo DR, Harden RN, Paice JA, Apkarian AV. Brain activity for spontaneous pain of postherpetic neuralgia and its modulation by lidocaine patch therapy. Pain128(1–2),88–100 (2007).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 40  Parks EL, Geha PY, Baliki MN, Katz J, Schnitzer TJ, Apkarian AV. Brain activity for chronic knee osteoarthritis: dissociating evoked pain from spontaneous pain. Eur. J. Pain15(8), 843,e841–814 (2011).
  Google Scholar
• 41  Baliki MN, Baria AT, Apkarian AV. The cortical rhythms of chronic back pain. J. Neurosci.31(39),13981–13990 (2011).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 42  Craig AD. How do you feel? Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body. Nat. Rev. Neurosci.3(8),655–666 (2002).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 43  Craig AD. How do you feel now? The anterior insula and human awareness. Nat. Rev. Neurosci.10(1),59–70 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 44  Craig AD, Chen K, Bandy D, Reiman EM. Thermosensory activation of insular cortex. Nat. Neurosci.3(2),184–190 (2000).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 45  Song GH, Venkatraman V, Ho KY, Chee MW, Yeoh KG, Wilder-Smith CH. Cortical effects of anticipation and endogenous modulation of visceral pain assessed by functional brain MRI in irritable bowel syndrome patients and healthy controls. Pain126(1–3),79–90 (2006).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 46  Singer T, Seymour B, O’Doherty J, Kaube H, Dolan RJ, Frith CD. Empathy for pain involves the affective but not sensory components of pain. Science303,1157–1162 (2004).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 47  Baliki MN, Geha PY, Apkarian AV, Chialvo DR. Beyond feeling: chronic pain hurts the brain, disrupting the default-mode network dynamics. J. Neurosci.28(6),1398–1403 (2008).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 48  Apkarian AV, Sosa Y, Krauss BR et al. Chronic pain patients are impaired on an emotional decision-making task. Pain108(1–2),129–136 (2004).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 49  Apkarian AV, Hashmi JA, Baliki MN. Pain and the brain: specificity and plasticity of the brain in clinical chronic pain. Pain152(3 Suppl.),S49–S64 (2011).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 50  Baliki MN, Schnitzer TJ, Bauer WR, Apkarian AV. Brain morphological signatures for chronic pain. PloS ONE6(10),e26010 (2011).▪ Authors demonstrated that the location and pattern of plastic changes of gray matter varies according to specific conditions of chronic pain.
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 51  Dasilva AF, Becerra L, Pendse G, Chizh B, Tully S, Borsook D. Colocalized structural and functional changes in the cortex of patients with trigeminal neuropathic pain. PloS ONE3(10),e3396 (2008).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 52  Wartolowska K, Hough MG, Jenkinson M, Andersson J, Wordsworth BP, Tracey I. Structural changes of the brain in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum.64(2),371–379 (2012).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 53  Hofer SB, Mrsic-Flogel TD, Bonhoeffer T, Hubener M. Experience leaves a lasting structural trace in cortical circuits. Nature457(7227),313–317 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 54  Eto K, Wake H, Watanabe M et al. Inter-regional contribution of enhanced activity of the primary somatosensory cortex to the anterior cingulate cortex accelerates chronic pain behavior. J. Neurosci.31(21),7631–7636 (2011).▪ The authors demonstrated that the remodeling synaptic efficacy in the primary somatosensory cortex results in the modulation of activity in the anterior cingulate cortex, thus stressing the connective cortical nature, and its importance with regard to treatment of chronic pain.
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 55  Kim SK, Kato G, Ishikawa T, Nabekura J.Phase-specific plasticity of synaptic structures in the somatosensory cortex of living mice during neuropathic pain. Mol. Pain7,87 (2011).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 56  Kim SK, Nabekura J. Rapid synaptic remodeling in the adult somatosensory cortex following peripheral nerve injury and its association with neuropathic pain. J. Neurosci.31(14),5477–5482 (2011).▪ Using time-lapse multiphoton microscopy of individual cortical dendrites, authors demonstrated that the synaptic organization following neuropathic nerve injury is similar to one observed during LTP. They also demonstrated that this process occurs at a faster pace than previously believed. Additionally, they stressed the importance of timing of treatment in preventing chronic pain.
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 57  Bhatt DH, Zhang S, Gan WB. Dendritic spine dynamics. Ann. Rev. Physiol.71,261–282 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 58  Holtmaat A, Wilbrecht L, Knott GW, Welker E, Svoboda K. Experience-dependent and cell-type-specific spine growth in the neocortex. Nature441(7096),979–983 (2006).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 59  Yang G, Pan F, Gan WB. Stably maintained dendritic spines are associated with lifelong memories. Nature462(7275),920–924 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 60  Geha PY, Baliki MN, Harden RN, Bauer WR, Parrish TB, Apkarian AV. The brain in chronic CRPS pain: abnormal gray–white matter interactions in emotional and autonomic regions. Neuron60(4),570–581 (2008).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 61  Ichesco E, Quintero A, Clauw DJ et al. Altered functional connectivity between the insula and the cingulate cortex in patients with temporomandibular disorder: a pilot study. Headache52(3),441–454 (2012).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 62  Baliki MN, Petre B, Torbey S et al. Corticostriatal functional connectivity predicts transition to chronic back pain. Nat. Neurosci.15(8),1117–1119 (2012).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 63  Napadow V, Kim J, Clauw DJ, Harris RE. Decreased intrinsic brain connectivity is associated with reduced clinical pain in fibromyalgia. Arthritis Rheum.64(7),2398–2403 (2012).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 64  Baliki MN, Geha PY, Apkarian AV, Chialvo DR. Beyond feeling: chronic pain hurts the brain, disrupting the default-mode network dynamics. J. Neurosci.28(6),1398–1403 (2008).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 65  Flor H, Denke C, Schaefer M, Grüsser S. Effect of sensory discrimination training on cortical reorganisation and phantom limb pain. Lancet357(9270),1763–1764 (2001).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 66  Kroenke K, Krebs EE, Bair MJ. Pharmacotherapy of chronic pain: a synthesis of recommendations from systematic reviews. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry31(3),206–219 (2009).
  MedlineGoogle Scholar
• 67  De Ridder D, De Mulder G, Menovsky T, Sunaert S, Kovacs S. Electrical stimulation of auditory and somatosensory cortices for treatment of tinnitus and pain. Prog. Brain Res.166,377–388 (2007).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 68  Feldman DE. Synaptic mechanisms for plasticity in neocortex. Ann. Rev. Neurosci.32,33–55 (2009).
  Medline CASGoogle Scholar
• 101  IASP taxonomy. International Association for the Study of Pain (2011). www.iasp-pain.org/Content/NavigationMenu/GeneralResourceLinks/PainDefinitions/default.htm (Accessed 3 September 2012)
  Google Scholar