Neuroimaging as a Tool for Pain Diagnosis and Analgesic Development

Abstract

Summary:Neuroimaging makes it possible to study pain processing beyond the peripheral nervous system, at the supraspinal level, in a safe, noninvasive way, without interfering with neurophysiological processes. In recent years, studies using brain imaging methods have contributed to our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the development and maintenance of chronic pain. Moreover, neuroimaging shows promising results for analgesic drug development and in characterizing different types of pain, bringing us closer to development of mechanism-based diagnoses and treatments for the chronic pain patient.

Neuroimaging mechanisms in pain: from discovery to translation

“…Over the years, our group and others have made significant contributions towards the development of pharmacological neuroimaging-ie, the use of neuroimaging-based measures to determine target engagement and modulation of brain networks and mechanisms relevant to acute and chronic pain across different classes of compounds. 11,28,58,67,69,85,95,98,114,128,[133][134][135] Subjective ratings of pain and analgesia are influenced by many factors, as we have shown perhaps most strikingly in an earlier study. 9 Therefore, obtaining early information that a drug has target engagement and some efficacy against the mechanism being targeted in human experimental medicine models or patients, irrespective of the analgesic rating, is valuable and can hopefully lead to fewer good drugs being falsely failed and more poorer drugs being stopped earlier in analgesic drug development.…”

Electroencephalographic Patterns in Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Imaging tools may help researchers and clinicians to assess the mechanisms and the efficacy of therapeutic interventions [ 71 ]. The recording of sensory and cognitive ERPs, for instance, has become a reliable biomarker for assessing the effects of various analgesic drugs [ 68 , 72 , 73 ].…”

The Brain in Chronic Pain: Clinical Implications

“…Large claims have been made as to the potential of using brain imaging for advancing the understanding of treatment efficacy, site of action, mechanisms, and tools for developing novel drug therapies, especially for chronic pain [62-65]. Borsook et al , for example, states that neuroimaging is revolutionizing therapeutic approaches to chronic pain [66].…”