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Science 18 June 1999:
Vol. 284. no. 5422, pp. 1979 - 1981
DOI: 10.1126/science.284.5422.1979
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Reports

Dissociating Pain from Its Anticipation in the Human Brain

Alexander Ploghaus, 12* Irene Tracey, 1* Joseph S. Gati, 3 Stuart Clare, 1 Ravi S. Menon, 3 Paul M. Matthews, 1 J. Nicholas P. Rawlins 2

The experience of pain is subjectively different from the fear and anxiety caused by threats of pain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging in healthy humans was applied to dissociate neural activation patterns associated with acute pain and its anticipation. Expectation of pain activated sites within the medial frontal lobe, insular cortex, and cerebellum distinct from, but close to, locations mediating pain experience itself. Anticipation of pain can in its own right cause mood changes and behavioral adaptations that exacerbate the suffering experienced by chronic pain patients. Selective manipulations of activity at these sites may offer therapeutic possibilities for treating chronic pain.

1 Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
2 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK.
3 Laboratory for Functional Magnetic Resonance Research, John P. Robarts Research Institute, 100 Perth Drive, London, Ontario N6A 5K8, Canada.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alex{at}fmrib.ox.ac.uk, irene{at}fmrib.ox.ac.uk

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