Key result
Performing a difficult cognitive task increases subsequent pain and pain-related fMRI responses across the brain.
Why the study?
The mechanisms underlying how demanding cognitive control tasks influence subsequent pain responses remain largely unclear.
This study demonstrates functional interactions between distinct but partly co-localized neural networks underlying executive control and pain in the cingulate cortex.
Cognitive load may heighten subsequent pain; leaves open whether cingulate interactions generalize to clinical populations.
Demanding tasks can influence following behaviors but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we used multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) to compare patterns of brain activity associated with pain in response to noxious stimuli administered after a task requiring cognitive control (Stroop) and evaluate their functional interaction based on a mediation analysis model. We found that performing a difficult cognitive task leads to subsequent increases in pain and pain-related multivariate responses across the brain and within the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC). Moreover, an aMCC pattern predictive of task performance was further reactivated during pain and predicted ensuing increases in pain-related brain responses. This suggests functional interactions between distinct but partly co-localized neural networks underlying executive control and pain. These findings offer a new perspective on the functional role of the cingulate cortex in pain and cognition and provide a promising framework to investigate dynamical interactions between partly overlapping brain networks.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Silvestrini et al. (2020) studied Pain and cognitive control. Difficult cognitive task (Stroop) was evaluated on Pain and pain-related multivariate brain responses. Performing a difficult cognitive task (Stroop) led to subsequent increases in pain and pain-related multivariate fMRI responses across the brain and within the anterior mid-cingulate cortex.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: