Probabilistic Somatotopy of the Spinothalamic Pathway at the Ventroposterolateral Nucleus of the Thalamus in the Human Brain

Hong, Ji Heon; Kwon, Hyeok Gyu; Jang, Sung Ho

doi:10.3174/ajnr.a2497

Cited by 17 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It encompasses the postcentral gyrus on both the left and right sides of the brain and has a well described somatotopic map, with the leg represented medially in the paracentral lobule and the hand and face more laterally towards the parietal operculum. A few fMRI studies have examined somatotopy of the somatosensory pathway in healthy subjects (DaSilva et al, ; Hong, Kwon, & Jang, ) and in pain patients (Maleki et al, ; Shokouhi et al, ) and their connectivity (Yamada et al, ). Both these regions show plasticity in pain (Hubbard et al, ; Kim, Kim, et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting brain circuits in pain chronicity

Youssef

Azqueta‐Gavaldon²,

Silva

et al. 2019

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The evaluation of brain changes to a specific pain condition in pediatric and adult patients allows for insights into potential mechanisms of pain chronicity and possibly long‐term brain changes. Here we focused on the primary somatosensory system (SS) involved in pain processing, namely the ventroposterolateral thalamus (VPL) and the primary somatosensory cortex (SI). We evaluated, using MRI, three specific processes: (a) somatotopy of changes in the SS for different pain origins (viz., foot vs. arm); (b) differences in acute (ankle sprain versus complex regional pain syndrome‐CRPS); and (c) differences of the effects of CRPS on SS in pediatric versus adult patients. In all cases, age‐ and sex‐matched individuals were used as controls. Our results suggest a shift in concurrent gray matter density (GMD) and resting functional connectivity strengths (rFC) across pediatric and adult CRPS with (a) differential patterns of GMD (VPL) and rFC (SI) on SS in pediatric vs. adult patterns that are consistent with upper and lower limb somatotopical organization; and (b) widespread GMD alterations in pediatric CRPS from sensory, emotional and descending modulatory processes to more confined sensory‐emotional changes in adult CRPS and rFC patterns from sensory‐sensory alterations in pediatric populations to a sensory‐emotional change in adult populations. These results support the idea that pediatric and adult CRPS are differentially represented and may reflect underlying differences in pain chronification across age groups that may contribute to the well‐known differences between child and adult pain vulnerability and resilience.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifting brain circuits in pain chronicity

Youssef

Azqueta‐Gavaldon²,

Silva

et al. 2019

Human Brain Mapping

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…One striking aspect of the organization of this system is that the spatial relationship 75 among the receptors in the body is conserved along this journey between the body 76 and the brain (Hong et al, 2011;Yamada et al, 2007), the consequence of which is 77 the presence of an orderly, somatotopically organized representation of the body in 78 primary somatosensory cortex -i.e., the sensory homunculus (Schott, 1993). 79…”

Section: Introduction 47mentioning

confidence: 99%

Bayesian population receptive field modeling in human somatosensory cortex

Puckett

Bollmann

Junday

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The recent development of diffusion tensor tractography (DTT), images of which are reconstructed from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data, allows three-dimensional visualization and estimation of the STT [3]. Many studies using DTT have reported that injury of the STT is related to the pathophysiology of central pain in mild TBI [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Most of these studies have reported on central pain of the arm and leg.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abdominal pain due to the spinothalamic tract injury in patients with mild traumatic brain injury: a case report

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: We report on a patient with a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) who developed abdominal pain due to spinothalamic tract (STT) injuries revealed by diffusion tensor tractography (DTT). Case presentation: A 53-year-old female patient suffered head trauma resulting from a backward fall. While bathing at a public bathhouse, she fell backward and struck the occipital area of her head against the floor. After the head trauma, she experienced pain in the abdomen and in both hands and feet. She underwent evaluations including conventional brain MRI, abdominal and pelvic ultrasonography, and stomach and intestine endoscopy. No abnormality was observed in her brain or abdomen. In addition, her abdominal pain had not been relieved by medical management. When she came to our hospital 4 years after the head trauma, her pain characteristics and severity were as follows: intermittent pain without allodynia or hyperalgesia; squeezing and warm creeping-like pain in the abdomen (visual analog scale score: 7); tingling pain in both hands and feet (visual analog scale score: 7). She was prescribed pregabalin and gabapentin, and her abdominal and limb pain was well-controlled at a tolerable level. On DTT 4 years after head trauma, the upper portion of the spinothalamic tracts (STTs) in both hemispheres showed partial tearing. Discussion and conclusions: Injury of the STT was demonstrated by using DTT in a patient who showed abdominal pain that was refractory to medical management following mild TBI. Our results suggest that central pain due to STT injury might be suspected in patients with abdominal pain that is refractory to medical management following TBI.

show abstract

Probabilistic Somatotopy of the Spinothalamic Pathway at the Ventroposterolateral Nucleus of the Thalamus in the Human Brain

Cited by 17 publications

References 31 publications

Shifting brain circuits in pain chronicity

Shifting brain circuits in pain chronicity

Bayesian population receptive field modeling in human somatosensory cortex

Abdominal pain due to the spinothalamic tract injury in patients with mild traumatic brain injury: a case report

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About