Desouza, DD;
Moayedi, M;
Chen, DQ;
Davis, KD;
Hodaie, M;
(2013)
Sensorimotor and Pain Modulation Brain Abnormalities in Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Paroxysmal, Sensory-Triggered Neuropathic Pain.
PLoS One
, 8
(6)
, Article e66340. 10.1371/journal.pone.0066340.
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Abstract
Idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is characterized by paroxysms of severe facial pain but without the major sensory loss that commonly accompanies neuropathic pain. Since neurovascular compression of the trigeminal nerve root entry zone does not fully explain the pathogenesis of TN, we determined whether there were brain gray matter abnormalities in a cohort of idiopathic TN patients. We used structural MRI to test the hypothesis that TN is associated with altered gray matter (GM) in brain areas involved in the sensory and affective aspects of pain, pain modulation, and motor function. We further determined the contribution of long-term TN on GM plasticity.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Sensorimotor and Pain Modulation Brain Abnormalities in Trigeminal Neuralgia: A Paroxysmal, Sensory-Triggered Neuropathic Pain |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0066340 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0066340 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Objective Idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is characterized by paroxysms of severe facial pain but without the major sensory loss that commonly accompanies neuropathic pain. Since neurovascular compression of the trigeminal nerve root entry zone does not fully explain the pathogenesis of TN, we determined whether there were brain gray matter abnormalities in a cohort of idiopathic TN patients. We used structural MRI to test the hypothesis that TN is associated with altered gray matter (GM) in brain areas involved in the sensory and affective aspects of pain, pain modulation, and motor function. We further determined the contribution of long-term TN on GM plasticity. Methods Cortical thickness and subcortical GM volume were measured from high-resolution 3T T1-weighted MRI scans in 24 patients with right-sided TN and 24 healthy control participants. Results TN patients had increased GM volume in the sensory thalamus, amygdala, periaqueductal gray, and basal ganglia (putamen, caudate, nucleus accumbens) compared to healthy controls. The patients also had greater cortical thickness in the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex and frontal pole compared to controls. In contrast, patients had thinner cortex in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, the insula and the orbitofrontal cortex. No relationship was observed between GM abnormalities and TN pain duration. Conclusions TN is associated with GM abnormalities in areas involved in pain perception, pain modulation and motor function. These findings may reflect increased nociceptive input to the brain, an impaired descending modulation system that does not adequately inhibit pain, and increased motor output to control facial movements to limit pain attacks. PMCID: PMC3688879 |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices 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 Life Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1399672 |
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