Journal
NEURON
Volume 35, Issue 2, Pages 383-393Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/S0896-6273(02)00767-5
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NICHD NIH HHS [P01 HD033986-04, P01HD33986] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Skin inflammation causes innocuous heat to become painful. This condition, called heat allodynia, is a common feature of pathological pain states. Here, we show that heat allodynia is functionally and neuroanatomically distinct from normal heat pain. We subtracted positron emission tomography scans obtained during painful heating of normal skin from scans during equally intense but normally innocuous heating of capsaicin-treated skin. This comparison reveals the specific activation of a medial thalamic pathway to the frontal lobe during heat allodynia. The results suggest that different central pathways mediate the intensity and certain qualitative aspects of pain. In making this differentiation, the brain recognizes unique physiological features of different painful conditions, thus permitting adaptive responses to different pain states.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available