Ensemble Encoding of Nociceptive Stimulus Intensity in the Rat Medial and Lateral Pain Systems

Zhang, Yang; Wang, Ning; Wang, Jinyan; Chang, Jing‐Yu; Woodward, Donald J.; Luo, Fei

doi:10.1186/1744-8069-7-64

Cited by 53 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The information carried by the nociceptive afferent volley is encoded and processed at multiple levels, which include the dorsal horn, the thalamus, the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices (SI and SII) and the dorso-posterior insula202122. All these regions contain somatotopic representations of nociceptive input to the skin232425262728.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptual learning to discriminate the intensity and spatial location of nociceptive stimuli

Mancini

Dolgevica

Steckelmacher

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Accurate discrimination of the intensity and spatial location of nociceptive stimuli is essential to guide appropriate behaviour. The ability to discriminate the attributes of sensory stimuli is continuously refined by practice, even throughout adulthood - a phenomenon called perceptual learning. In the visual domain, perceptual learning to discriminate one of the features that define a visual stimulus (e.g., its orientation) can transfer to a different feature of the same stimulus (e.g., its contrast). Here, we performed two experiments on 48 volunteers to characterize perceptual learning in nociception, which has been rarely studied. We investigated whether learning to discriminate either the intensity or the location of nociceptive stimuli (1) occurs during practice and is subsequently maintained, (2) requires feedback on performance, and (3) transfers to the other, unpractised stimulus feature. First, we found clear evidence that perceptual learning in discriminating both the intensity and the location of nociceptive stimuli occurs, and is maintained for at least 3 hours after practice. Second, learning occurs only when feedback is provided during practice. Finally, learning is largely confined to the feature for which feedback was provided. We discuss these effects in a predictive coding framework, and consider implications for future studies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptual learning to discriminate the intensity and spatial location of nociceptive stimuli

Mancini

Dolgevica

Steckelmacher

et al. 2016

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…We propose the existence of at least two ascending circuits from the trachea, a trigeminothalamocortical circuit and a bulbar thalamolimbic circuit which relay via lateral and medial thalamic nuclei and terminate in the primary sensory cortex and the limbic (insula, orbital and cingulate) cortex, respectively. This anatomical arrangement for ascending tracheal afferent inputs shows considerable homology with the lateral and medial somatic pain pathways that are well described, and studies in humans confirm the similarity between cough and pain central processing [17]. By contrast, lung afferents also give rise to projections into higher brain regions but these appear to largely follow the more classic visceral central circuit with relays via the visceral thalamus and terminations in the visceral regions of the insula cortex [6 ].…”

Section: Central Neuroanatomy Of Central Cough Sensorimotor Processingmentioning

confidence: 89%

Endogenous central suppressive mechanisms regulating cough as potential targets for novel antitussive therapies

Mazzone

McGovern

Farrell

2015

Current Opinion in Pharmacology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Therefore, ACC has a multi-functional role in modulation of affective pain responses, whereas S1 provides more specific information regarding the sensory component of acute pain. Previously, several electrophysiological studies have established that activities in the S1 and ACC are altered by pain stimuli (Kuo and Yen 2005, Zhang et al 2011, Li et al 2014). However, very little effort has been devoted to decoding analysis or onset detection of pain signals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our work distinguishes from the previous literature. Unlike previous studies that correlated neural firing with pain intensities (Zhang et al 2011), our study takes on a unique task of detecting the onset of pain using an unsupervised learning approach. Specifically, our approach employs state space analysis (Chen 2015) and variational inference for a state space model (SSM).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deciphering neuronal population codes for acute thermal pain

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. Current pain research mostly focuses on molecular and synaptic changes at the spinal and peripheral levels. However, a complete understanding of pain mechanisms requires the physiological study of the neocortex. Our goal is to apply a neural decoding approach to read out the onset of acute thermal pain signals, which can be used for brain–machine interface. Approach We used micro wire arrays to record ensemble neuronal activities from the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in freely behaving rats. We further investigated neural codes for acute thermal pain at both single-cell and population levels. To detect the onset of acute thermal pain signals, we developed a novel latent state-space framework to decipher the sorted or unsorted S1 and ACC ensemble spike activities, which reveal information about the onset of pain signals. Main results The state space analysis allows us to uncover a latent state process that drives the observed ensemble spike activity, and to further detect the ‘neuronal threshold’ for acute thermal pain on a single-trial basis. Our method achieved good detection performance in sensitivity and specificity. In addition, our results suggested that an optimal strategy for detecting the onset of acute thermal pain signals may be based on combined evidence from S1 and ACC population codes. Significance Our study is the first to detect the onset of acute pain signals based on neuronal ensemble spike activity. It is important from a mechanistic viewpoint as it relates to the significance of S1 and ACC activities in the regulation of the acute pain onset.

show abstract

Ensemble Encoding of Nociceptive Stimulus Intensity in the Rat Medial and Lateral Pain Systems

Cited by 53 publications

References 35 publications

Perceptual learning to discriminate the intensity and spatial location of nociceptive stimuli

Perceptual learning to discriminate the intensity and spatial location of nociceptive stimuli

Endogenous central suppressive mechanisms regulating cough as potential targets for novel antitussive therapies

Deciphering neuronal population codes for acute thermal pain

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About