Neuro magnetic resonance spectroscopy using wavelet decomposition and statistical testing identifies biochemical changes in people with spinal cord injury and pain

rTMS of the prefrontal cortex has analgesic effects on neuropathic pain in subjects with spinal cord injury

“…36,37 Atrophy of the DLPFC has been consistently found in previous brain morphometric studies of various chronic pain conditions, [38][39][40] and previous neuroimaging studies suggested that the DLPFC has a central role in top-down pain processing. A positron emission tomographic imaging study has shown that, in painful thermal stimulation of normal and capsaicin-treated skin in healthy volunteers, the activity of the DLPFC was negatively correlated with the intensity of perceived pain and unpleasantness; moreover, an inhibition of the neuronal coupling between the midbrain and thalamus was observed during high activity of the left DLPFC.…”

Comparison of operant escape and reflex tests of nociceptive sensitivity

“…In order to understand how below-level chronic pain develops following spinal transection, we need to know about levels of abnormal activity that develop within pain pathways rostral to SCI, not caudal. For example, nocireceptive neural structures rostral to a spinothalamic lesion develop abnormal levels or patterns of ongoing activity, which can be assessed by direct recordings from or images of these regions (Gustin et al, 2010(Gustin et al, , 2014Henderson et al, 2011;Herbert et al, 2007;Stanwell et al, 2010;Weng et al, 2000Weng et al, , 2003Wrigley et al, 2009). Deafferentation of nocireceptive cerebral structures in patients with SCI is inevitably partial.…”

High-field MRS in clinical drug development

“…but not as yet FDA approved, this author advocates a renewed effort to match PET with a universally accepted MRS Lump constant rather than retreating to the unachievable goal of 'absolute quantification'. 4.2 31 P not as useful as first thought Defining intracellular pH and concentration of high-energy phosphates ATP and PCr, the initial stimulus to clinical MRS diagnosis failed to deliver much of its promised diagnostic value. Valuable in contractile tissues --cardiac and skeletal muscle under 'stress', in most other tissues particularly the brain, showed such reserves that changes in [ATP] or [PCr] were observed only in terminal or near terminal patients.…”