Altered response of the functional network during pain stimulus in small fiber neuropathy

Small fiber neuropathy (SFN) is a neuropathic disorder that is associated with chronic pain, which may have an effect on the functional organization of the brain network. Here, we study the effect of pain on the functional network by applying a painful stimulus block-design during an fMRI acquisition. We show global changes in the functional network for patient with idiopathic and genetic SFN compared to controls. Moreover, self-reported pain scores correlated with nodal importance of the somatosensory cortex (postcentral gyrus) in the pain-evoked cerebral functional network, indicating that the functional network takes an important role in the perception of pain.