Measuring Pain Using Functional MRI

Regions of the cerebral cortex associated with pain. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Measuring Pain using Functional MRI | Now@NEJM:




















Excerpt from NEJM Blog:


"The moment we find a useful biomarker, our ability to manage a condition improves:  we treat diabetes by following the glycemic index, we treat HIV by following a viral load and a CD4 count. Conditions without biomarkers often frustrate treatment – after all, like the business adage – “you can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Although some diseases fall into this category, frustratingly, so does the symptom of pain. This week’s NEJM reports on a biomarker – specifically a neurologic signature through the use of functional MRI – with the hope that a method to objectively measure pain will allow for titration of medications to achieve effective symptomatic relief in the distressed patient."


Read full article here. 

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From MedPageToday:

Action Points

• "Data from several studies have shown it is possible to assess and differentiate pain through a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scan.
• Note that the first two studies incorporated machine-learning analyses to identify fMRI activity across brain regions associated with heat-induced pain and included the thalamus, the posterior and anterior insulae, the secondary somatosensory cortex, the anterior cingulate cortex, the periaqueductal gray matter, and other regions."

Read full article here.