Neuroscience 2005 Abstract
| Presentation Number: | 53.14 |
|---|---|
| Abstract Title: | Sustained activation in human SI during short-term memory of heat pain. |
| Authors: |
Albanese, M. C.*1
; Duerden, E. G.3
; Rainville, P.4
; Duncan, G. H.2,3,4
1Dept. Psychology, McGill Univ., Montreal, Canada 2Dept. Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill Univ., Montreal, Canada 3PQ, 1205 Dr Penfield Ave, H3A 1B1, 4Canada, 1205 Dr Penfield Ave, H3A 1B1, |
| Primary Theme and Topics |
Sensory and Motor Systems - Pain -- Pain imaging and perception |
| Secondary Theme and Topics | Cognition and Behavior<br />- Human Cognition, Behavior, and Anatomy<br />-- Working memory |
| Session: |
53. Pain imaging Poster |
| Presentation Time: | Saturday, November 12, 2005 2:00 PM-3:00 PM |
| Location: | Washington Convention Center - Hall A-C, Board # V29 |
| Keywords: | TEMPERATURE, FMRI, PARIETAL CORTEX |
Converging evidence suggests that sensory information is transiently stored in sensory-specific cortical areas that perform the initial encoding of those stimuli (Pasternak & Greenlee, 2005). Although human primary somatosensory cortex (SI) has been shown to be a transient storage site for tactile information (Harris et al., 2002), little is known about the role of SI in the retention of noxious sensory information. Using a delayed discrimination paradigm and 1.5-T fMRI (see Duerden et al, SFN Abstract 2005), we investigated the neural basis of encoding and retention of heat pain stimuli applied to the right palm in 8 healthy volunteers (6-s stimuli; 6-, 8-, or 10-s inter-stimulus intervals ISI; random presentation of MEMORY and CONTROL tasks). When compared to a resting baseline, heat pain stimuli in both the MEMORY and CONTROL tasks yielded a comparable increase in the BOLD response (T=6.82 to 13.0) in areas known to process noxious stimuli: contralateral SI and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), bilateral secondary somatosensory cortex (SII) and anterior insula suggesting subjects attended similarly to the pain stimuli in both trial types. Contrasting activation associated with the ISI in MEMORY and CONTROL tasks to elucidate cerebral areas specifically involved in maintaining pain information in working memory resulted in significant activation within bilateral SI and contralateral prefrontal cortex (T=5.05 & 6.41, respectively). The memory-specific activation in prefrontal cortex is consistent with previous studies linking frontal lobe function and working memory for innocuous cutaneous and visual stimuli. Moreover, the sustained pain-related activity in SI associated with the ISI in the MEMORY trials suggests a short-term retention of a 'pain trace' in sensory-specific cortex.
Supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Sample Citation:
[Authors]. [Abstract Title]. Program No. XXX.XX. 2005 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. Washington, DC: Society for Neuroscience, 2005. Online.
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