In this pilot study, we roughly classified the pain descriptor items into two types for evaluating the qualities of deafferentation pain. We found that visually induced motor imagery by MVF was more effective for reducing deep pain than superficial pain. This suggests that the analgesic effect of MVF treatment does depend on the qualities of the pain. Further research will be required to confirm that this effect is a specific consequence of MVF.

The results demonstrated that the PSEQ-J has adequate psychometric properties, supporting its use in clinical and research settings and suggest that the PSEQ-J may be particularly strongly associated with more social and less physical activity.

These findings suggest that the reliability and validity of the SF-MPQ-2-J are excellent, and the SF-MPQ-2-J represents a cross-cultural equivalent to SF-MPQ-2. Consequently, the latter is suitable for research and clinical use, and for discriminating neuropathic pain from non-neuropathic pain.

The Japanese version of the DN4 was found to be a helpful tool for discriminating between neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain.

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to elucidate the central processing of painful mechanical stimulation to muscle and bone by measuring blood oxygen level-dependent signal changes using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).MethodsTwelve healthy volunteers were enrolled. Mechanical pressure on muscle and bone were applied at the right lower leg by an algometer. Intensities were adjusted to cause weak and strong pain sensation at either target site in preliminary testing. Brain activation in response to mechanical nociceptive stimulation targeting muscle and bone were measured by fMRI and analyzed.ResultsPainful mechanical stimulation targeting muscle and bone activated the common areas including bilateral insula, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex (S2), inferior parietal lobe, and basal ganglia. The contralateral S2 was more activated by strong stimulation than by weak stimulation. Some areas in the basal ganglia (bilateral putamen and caudate nucleus) were more activated by muscle stimulation than by bone stimulation.ConclusionsThe putamen and caudate nucleus may have a more significant role in brain processing of muscle pain compared with bone pain.