UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Fine-Grained Mapping of Cortical Somatotopies in Chronic Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

Mancini, F; Wang, AP; Schira, MM; Isherwood, ZJ; McAuley, JH; Iannetti, GD; Sereno, MI; ... Rae, CD; + view all (2019) Fine-Grained Mapping of Cortical Somatotopies in Chronic Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Journal of Neuroscience , 39 (46) pp. 9185-9196. 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2005-18.2019. Green open access

[thumbnail of Fine-Grained Mapping of Cortical Somatotopies in Chronic Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.pdf]
Preview
Text
Fine-Grained Mapping of Cortical Somatotopies in Chronic Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.pdf - Published Version

Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

It has long been thought that severe chronic pain conditions, such as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), are not only associated with, but even maintained by a reorganization of the somatotopic representation of the affected limb in primary somatosensory cortex (S1). This notion has driven treatments that aim to restore S1 representations in CRPS patients, such as sensory discrimination training and mirror therapy. However, this notion is based on both indirect and incomplete evidence obtained with imaging methods with low spatial resolution. Here, we used fMRI to characterize the S1 representation of the affected and unaffected hand in humans (of either sex) with unilateral CRPS. The cortical area, location, and geometry of the S1 representation of the CRPS hand were largely comparable with those of both the unaffected hand and healthy controls. We found no differential relation between affected versus unaffected hand map measures and clinical measures (pain severity, upper limb disability, disease duration). Thus, if any map reorganization occurs, it does not appear to be directly related to pain and disease severity. These findings compel us to reconsider the cortical mechanisms underlying CRPS and the rationale for interventions that aim to “restore” somatotopic representations to treat pain.

Type: Article
Title: Fine-Grained Mapping of Cortical Somatotopies in Chronic Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2005-18.2019
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2005-18.2019
Language: English
Additional information: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided that the original work is properly attributed.
Keywords: chronic pain, fMRI, plasticity, S1, somatosensory cortex
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Neuro, Physiology and Pharmacology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10090530
Downloads since deposit
38Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item