Brain mechanisms of pain affect and pain modulation
Abstract
Recent animal studies reveal ascending nociceptive and descending modulatory pathways that may contribute to the affective-motivational aspects of pain and play a critical role in the modulation of pain. In humans, a reliable pattern of cerebral activity occurs during the subjective experience of pain. Activity within the anterior cingulate cortex and possibly in other classical limbic structures, appears to be closely related to the subjective experience of pain unpleasantness and may reflect the regulation of endogenous mechanisms of pain modulation.
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Developments in neuroimaging methodology have enabled researchers to study how cognitive factors such as attention and mood are related to neural activation.
“Developments in neuroimaging methodology have enabled researchers to study how cognitive factors such as attention and mood are related to neural activation.99,139”
From Psychological aspects of persistent pain: Current state of the science (2004) · cites this paper as [99]
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- Authors
- Rainville, P.
- Affiliations
- Université de Montréal (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Rainville, Pierre
- ORCID
- Rainville, Pierre
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Neurobiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2002-04
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 195-204
- ISSN
- 0959-4388 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2145677511
- Cited by
- 634
- References
- 18
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 23 · 2016: 25 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 38 · 2012: 26
- FWCI
- 2.50
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Neurobiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
- Keywords
- pain affect, pain modulation, descending pain modulation, anterior cingulate cortex, limbic system, pain unpleasantness, endogenous pain modulation, subjective pain
- MeSH terms
- Brain, Emotions, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Limbic System, Pain, Tomography, Emission-Computed
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