Analysis of brain changes by magnetic resonance imaging after chronic pain in rodents

• Grant number: 14/20983-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: January 15, 2015
• End date: December 14, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Anatomy
• Principal Investigator: Marucia Chacur
• Grantee: Joyce Teixeira da Silva
• Supervisor: David A. Seminowicz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/24408-6 - Magnetic resonance and supraspinal neuronal activation in chronic neuropathic pain model in rats, BP.DD

Abstract

The analysis by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) called "pain matrix", ie, brain areas related to pain have attracted great interest from the scientific community, since the range of animal models and the facilitation of predictive data to therapeutic agents provide an extensive knowledge of the central nervous system function in this technique. Several MRI methods have been developed to study structural and functional changes in the brain, in rodents, functional magnetic resonance imaging has revealed brain regions related to acute nociceptive processing, resting-state connectivity has been extensively used to map the topological properties of brain networks and morphometry has been applied to the MRI data to examine differences in gray matter volume across brain structures. In order to elucidate the brain mechanisms involved in pain processing, our main goal is to evaluate MRI brain changes in rodent model of chronic pain, and the specific aims are analysis of resting state connectivity, pain-related activity and morphometry analysis. Our hypothesis is that changes will be seen in areas that belong to the pain matrix (thalamus, somatosensory cortex, insular cortex, cingulate cortex, premotor cortex, primary motor cortex, supplementary motor area, prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, amygdala and midbrain) in different experimental groups, as observed in humans with chronic pain compared with control subjects. However, is still controversial which areas are exactly part of this matrix and the plasticity process after chronic pain. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

HUBBARD, CATHERINE S.; KARPOWICZ, JANE M.; FURMAN, ANDREW J.; DA SILVA, JOYCE TEIXEIRA; SEMINOWICZ, DAVID A.; TRAUB, RICHARD J.. Estrogen-dependent visceral hypersensitivity following stress in rats: An fMRI study. MOLECULAR PAIN, v. 12, JUN 17 2016. (14/20983-1)