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Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds

Pain thresholds vary considerably across individuals and are influenced by a number of behavioral, genetic and neurobiological factors. However, the neurobiological underpinnings that account for individual differences remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we used voxel‐based morphometry (VB...

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Autores principales: Neumann, Lynn, Wulms, Niklas, Witte, Vanessa, Spisak, Tamas, Zunhammer, Matthias, Bingel, Ulrike, Schmidt‐Wilcke, Tobias
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8449096/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34296487
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25588
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author Neumann, Lynn
Wulms, Niklas
Witte, Vanessa
Spisak, Tamas
Zunhammer, Matthias
Bingel, Ulrike
Schmidt‐Wilcke, Tobias
author_facet Neumann, Lynn
Wulms, Niklas
Witte, Vanessa
Spisak, Tamas
Zunhammer, Matthias
Bingel, Ulrike
Schmidt‐Wilcke, Tobias
author_sort Neumann, Lynn
collection PubMed
description Pain thresholds vary considerably across individuals and are influenced by a number of behavioral, genetic and neurobiological factors. However, the neurobiological underpinnings that account for individual differences remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we used voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) and graph theory, specifically the local clustering coefficient (CC) based on resting‐state connectivity, to identify brain regions, where regional gray matter volume and network properties predicted individual pain thresholds. As a main finding, we identified a cluster in the left posterior insular cortex (IC) reaching into the left parietal operculum, including the secondary somatosensory cortex, where both regional gray matter volume and the local CC correlated with individual pain thresholds. We also performed a resting‐state functional connectivity analysis using the left posterior IC as seed region, demonstrating that connectivity to the pre‐ as well as postcentral gyrus bilaterally; that is, to the motor and primary sensory cortices were correlated with individual pain thresholds. To our knowledge, this is the first study that applied VBM in combination with voxel‐based graph theory in the context of pain thresholds. The co‐location of the VBM and the local CC cluster provide first evidence that both structure and function map to the same brain region while being correlated with the same behavioral measure; that is, pain thresholds. The study highlights the importance of the posterior IC, not only for pain perception in general, but also for the determination of individual pain thresholds.
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spelling pubmed-84490962021-09-24 Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds Neumann, Lynn Wulms, Niklas Witte, Vanessa Spisak, Tamas Zunhammer, Matthias Bingel, Ulrike Schmidt‐Wilcke, Tobias Hum Brain Mapp Research Articles Pain thresholds vary considerably across individuals and are influenced by a number of behavioral, genetic and neurobiological factors. However, the neurobiological underpinnings that account for individual differences remain to be fully elucidated. In this study, we used voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) and graph theory, specifically the local clustering coefficient (CC) based on resting‐state connectivity, to identify brain regions, where regional gray matter volume and network properties predicted individual pain thresholds. As a main finding, we identified a cluster in the left posterior insular cortex (IC) reaching into the left parietal operculum, including the secondary somatosensory cortex, where both regional gray matter volume and the local CC correlated with individual pain thresholds. We also performed a resting‐state functional connectivity analysis using the left posterior IC as seed region, demonstrating that connectivity to the pre‐ as well as postcentral gyrus bilaterally; that is, to the motor and primary sensory cortices were correlated with individual pain thresholds. To our knowledge, this is the first study that applied VBM in combination with voxel‐based graph theory in the context of pain thresholds. The co‐location of the VBM and the local CC cluster provide first evidence that both structure and function map to the same brain region while being correlated with the same behavioral measure; that is, pain thresholds. The study highlights the importance of the posterior IC, not only for pain perception in general, but also for the determination of individual pain thresholds. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2021-07-23 /pmc/articles/PMC8449096/ /pubmed/34296487 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25588 Text en © 2021 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non‐commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Neumann, Lynn
Wulms, Niklas
Witte, Vanessa
Spisak, Tamas
Zunhammer, Matthias
Bingel, Ulrike
Schmidt‐Wilcke, Tobias
Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds
title Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds
title_full Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds
title_fullStr Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds
title_full_unstemmed Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds
title_short Network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds
title_sort network properties and regional brain morphology of the insular cortex correlate with individual pain thresholds
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8449096/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34296487
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25588
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