Topic: pain expectation

Pain is constructed in the brain by integrating multimodal information, ranging from noxious inputs to expectations. Previous studies have identified brain systems that mediate the effects of different components of pain, but the computational mechanisms of their integration have been understudied. Here we examined whether the neural trajectories of different component subspaces would reveal the computational principles of information integration. To this end, we conducted a cue-induced pain expectation experiment with functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in humans (N = 56) to examine the com

Pain expectation is known to influence pain perception, but the underlying neuronal mechanisms remain unclear. While the motor role of the corticospinal tract is well characterized, only recently was it established that the corticospinal neurons originating from the primary somatosensory cortex (S1-CSNs) specifically contact the sensory region of the spinal cord, providing top-down regulation of sensations including pain. S1-CSNs neurons are therefore ideally positioned to modulate spinal nociception based on sensory representations and expectations. To test whether S1-CSNs activity is modulat