The influence of the descending pain modulatory system on infant pain-related brain activity

Goksan, Sezgi; Baxter, Luke; Moultrie, Fiona; Duff, Eugene; Hathway, Gareth; Hartley, Caroline; Tracey, Irene; Slater, Rebeccah

Abstract

The descending pain modulatory system (DPMS) constitutes a network of widely distributed brain regions whose integrated function is essential for effective modulation of sensory input to the central nervous system and behavioural responses to pain. Animal studies demonstrate that young rodents have an immature DPMS, but comparable studies have not been conducted in human infants. In Goksan et al. 2015 we used functional MRI (fMRI) to show that pain-related brain activity in newborn infants is similar to that observed in adults. Here we investigated whether the functional network connectivity strength across the infant DPMS influences the magnitude of this brain activity. FMRI scans were collected while mild mechanical noxious stimulation was applied to the infant’s foot. Greater pre-stimulus functional network connectivity across the DPMS was significantly associated with lower noxious-evoked brain activity (p=0.0004, r=-0.865, n=13), suggesting that in newborn infants the DPMS may regulate the magnitude of noxious-evoked brain activity.

Citation

Goksan, S., Baxter, L., Moultrie, F., Duff, E., Hathway, G., Hartley, C., …Slater, R. (2018). The influence of the descending pain modulatory system on infant pain-related brain activity. eLife, 7, Article e37125. https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.37125

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 15, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Sep 11, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 11, 2018
• Deposit Date: Sep 11, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 11, 2018
• Journal: eLife
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-084X
• Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Article Number: e37125
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.37125
• Keywords: General biochemistry; Genetics and molecular biology; General immunology and microbiology; General neuroscience; General medicine
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1068327
• Publisher URL: https://elifesciences.org/articles/37125