1
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Coll MP, Walden Z, Bourgoin PA, Taylor V, Rainville P, Robert M, Nguyen DK, Jolicoeur P, Roy M. Pain reflects the informational value of nociceptive inputs. Pain 2024; 165:e115-e125. [PMID: 38713801 DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Abstract
ABSTRACT Pain perception and its modulation are fundamental to human learning and adaptive behavior. This study investigated the hypothesis that pain perception is tied to pain's learning function. Thirty-one participants performed a threat conditioning task where certain cues were associated with a possibility of receiving a painful electric shock. The cues that signaled potential pain or safety were regularly changed, requiring participants to continually establish new associations. Using computational models, we quantified participants' pain expectations and prediction errors throughout the task and assessed their relationship with pain perception and electrophysiological responses. Our findings suggest that subjective pain perception increases with prediction error, that is, when pain was unexpected. Prediction errors were also related to physiological nociceptive responses, including the amplitude of nociceptive flexion reflex and electroencephalography markers of cortical nociceptive processing (N1-P2-evoked potential and gamma-band power). In addition, higher pain expectations were related to increased late event-related potential responses and alpha/beta decreases in amplitude during cue presentation. These results further strengthen the idea of a crucial link between pain and learning and suggest that understanding the influence of learning mechanisms in pain modulation could help us understand when and why pain perception is modulated in health and disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michel-Pierre Coll
- École de Psychologie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada
- Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (CIRRIS), Québec, QC, Canada
| | - Zoey Walden
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Veronique Taylor
- Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States
| | - Pierre Rainville
- Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Department of Stomatology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Manon Robert
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Dang Khoa Nguyen
- Centre de Recherche du Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Pierre Jolicoeur
- Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Mathieu Roy
- Department of Psychology, McGill University, 2001 McGill College, Montréal, QC, Canada
- Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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2
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Jaap C, Rose M. Relevance of pre-stimulus oscillatory activity for the perceived valence of emotional facial expressions. Sci Rep 2024; 14:19263. [PMID: 39164318 PMCID: PMC11336227 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-69433-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 08/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The interpretation of emotional facial expressions is crucial in everyday social interactions, and rapid processing of these expressions is necessary. Although extensive research has shed light on the mechanisms involved in facial expression processing, there is limited research on the potential role of the state of neural activity that directly precedes the occurrence of a face. Here, we investigated the potential modulatory role of pre-stimulus oscillatory activity in emotional facial expression processing. We tested emotional facial processing in two experiments, one utilizing artificial and the other natural facial expressions. The participants had to evaluate the emotional valence of the presented ambiguous facial expressions. In a univariate analysis, differences in the oscillation activity of the later rated valence of the faces were observed in both experiments, and these differences were observed even before the presentation of the facial expressions. Importantly, two different multivariate approaches directly supported the relevance of pre-stimulus oscillatory activity by exclusively using pre-stimulus oscillatory data to predict the perceived valence of the latter rated facial expression across the two experiments within as well as across subjects. The behavioral data shows the often observed negativity bias, i.e. ambiguous faces resulted in the tendency to rate them as negative. This negativity bias was related to neural activity modulations in the pre-stimulus period and also within post-stimulus processing related activity. These findings underscore the significance of pre-stimulus oscillatory activity in facial expression processing, indicating a functional role of ongoing neural states that affects the processing of facial expressions and constitute a basis for the well described negativity bias.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Jaap
- Department for Systems Neuroscience, NeuroImage Nord, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Rose
- Department for Systems Neuroscience, NeuroImage Nord, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
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3
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Leu C, Glineur E, Liberati G. Cue-based modulation of pain stimulus expectation: do ongoing oscillations reflect changes in pain perception? A registered report. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:240626. [PMID: 39100172 PMCID: PMC11296059 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240626] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2024] [Revised: 04/29/2024] [Accepted: 05/01/2024] [Indexed: 08/06/2024]
Abstract
A promising stream of investigations is targeting ongoing neural oscillations and whether their modulation could be related to the perception of pain. Using an electroencephalography (EEG) frequency-tagging approach, sustained periodic thermonociceptive stimuli perceived as painful have been shown to modulate ongoing oscillations in the theta, alpha and beta bands at the frequency of stimulation. Nonetheless, it remains uncertain whether these modulations are indeed linked to pain perception. To test this relationship, we modulated pain perception using a cue-based expectation modulation paradigm and investigated whether ongoing oscillations in different frequency bands mirror the changes in stimulus perception. Forty healthy participants were instructed that a visual cue can precede either a high- or low-intensity stimulation. These cues were paired with three different levels of sustained periodic thermonociceptive stimuli (low, medium and high). Despite a strong effect of expectation on perceived stimulus intensity, this effect was not reflected in the modulation of the ongoing oscillations, suggesting a potential dissociation of pain perception and these oscillatory activities. Rather, it seems that the intensity of stimulation is the primary generator of the frequency-tagged EEG responses. Importantly, these results need to be confirmed by further investigations that could allow the detection of smaller effects than originally estimated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chiara Leu
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Esther Glineur
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France
| | - Giulia Liberati
- Institute of Neuroscience, Université catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
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4
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Poublan-Couzardot A, Talmi D. Pain perception as hierarchical Bayesian inference: A test case for the theory of constructed emotion. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1536:42-59. [PMID: 38837401 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2024]
Abstract
An intriguing perspective about human emotion, the theory of constructed emotion considers emotions as generative models according to the Bayesian brain hypothesis. This theory brings fresh insight to existing findings, but its complexity renders it challenging to test experimentally. We argue that laboratory studies of pain could support the theory because although some may not consider pain to be a genuine emotion, the theory must at minimum be able to explain pain perception and its dysfunction in pathology. We review emerging evidence that bear on this question. We cover behavioral and neural laboratory findings, computational models, placebo hyperalgesia, and chronic pain. We conclude that there is substantial evidence for a predictive processing account of painful experience, paving the way for a better understanding of neuronal and computational mechanisms of other emotions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arnaud Poublan-Couzardot
- Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, INSERM, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon CRNL, Bron, France
| | - Deborah Talmi
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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5
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Krahé C, Koukoutsakis A, Fotopoulou A. Updating beliefs about pain following advice: Trustworthiness of social advice predicts pain expectations and experience. Cognition 2024; 246:105756. [PMID: 38442585 PMCID: PMC7616089 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105756] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
Prior expectations influence pain experience. These expectations, in turn, rely on prior pain experience, but they may also be socially influenced. Yet, most research has focused on self rather than social expectations about pain, and hardly any studies examined their combined effects on pain. Here, we adopted a Bayesian learning perspective to investigate how explicitly communicated social expectations ('advice about pain tolerance') affect own pain expectations, and ultimately pain tolerance, under varying conditions of social epistemic uncertainty (trustworthiness of the advice). N = 72 female participants took part in a coldpressor (cold water) task before (self-learning baseline) and after (socially-influenced learning) receiving advice about their likely pain tolerance from a confederate, the trustworthiness of whom was experimentally manipulated. We used path analysis to test the hypothesis that social advice from a highly trustworthy confederate would influence participants' expectations about pain more than advice from a less trustworthy source, and that the degree of this social influence would in turn predict pain tolerance. We further used a simplified, Bayesian learning, computational approach for explicit belief updating to examine the role of latent parameters of precision optimisation in how participants subsequently changed their future pain expectations (prospective posterior beliefs) based on the combined effect of the confederate's advice on their own pain expectations, and their own task experience. Results confirmed that participants adjusted their pain expectations towards the confederate's advice more in the high- vs. low-trustworthiness condition, and this advice taking predicted their pain tolerance. Furthermore, the confederate's trustworthiness influenced how participants weighted the confederate's advice in relation to their own expectations and task experience in forming prospective posterior beliefs. When participants received advice from a less trustworthy confederate, their own sensory experience was weighted more highly than their socially-influenced prior expectations. Thus, explicit social advice appears to impact pain by influencing one's own pain expectations, but low social trustworthiness leads to these expectations becoming more malleable to novel, sensory learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Krahé
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
| | - Athanasios Koukoutsakis
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Aikaterini Fotopoulou
- Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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6
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Toussaint B, Heinzle J, Stephan KE. A computationally informed distinction of interoception and exteroception. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 159:105608. [PMID: 38432449 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
While interoception is of major neuroscientific interest, its precise definition and delineation from exteroception continue to be debated. Here, we propose a functional distinction between interoception and exteroception based on computational concepts of sensor-effector loops. Under this view, the classification of sensory inputs as serving interoception or exteroception depends on the sensor-effector loop they feed into, for the control of either bodily (physiological and biochemical) or environmental states. We explain the utility of this perspective by examining the perception of skin temperature, one of the most challenging cases for distinguishing between interoception and exteroception. Specifically, we propose conceptualising thermoception as inference about the thermal state of the body (including the skin), which is directly coupled to thermoregulatory processes. This functional view emphasises the coupling to regulation (control) as a defining property of perception (inference) and connects the definition of interoception to contemporary computational theories of brain-body interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Birte Toussaint
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
| | - Jakob Heinzle
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Klaas Enno Stephan
- Translational Neuromodeling Unit (TNU), Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University of Zurich & ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland; Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, Cologne, Germany
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7
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Ventura‐Bort C, Weymar M. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation modulates the processing of interoceptive prediction error signals and their role in allostatic regulation. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26613. [PMID: 38379451 PMCID: PMC10879907 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26613] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Revised: 01/03/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
It has recently been suggested that predictive processing principles may apply to interoception, defined as the processing of hormonal, autonomic, visceral, and immunological signals. In the current study, we aimed at providing empirical evidence for the role of cardiac interoceptive prediction errors signals on allostatic adjustments, using transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) as a tool to modulate the processing of interoceptive afferents. In a within-subject design, participants performed a cardiac-related interoceptive task (heartbeat counting task) under taVNS and sham stimulation, spaced 1-week apart. We observed that taVNS, in contrast to sham stimulation, facilitated the maintenance of interoceptive accuracy levels over time (from the initial, stimulation-free, baseline block to subsequent stimulation blocks), suggesting that vagus nerve stimulation may have helped to maintain engagement to cardiac afferent signals. During the interoceptive task, taVNS compared to sham, produced higher heart-evoked potentials (HEP) amplitudes, a potential readout measure of cardiac-related prediction error processing. Further analyses revealed that the positive relation between interoceptive accuracy and allostatic adjustments-as measured by heart rate variability (HRV)-was mediated by HEP amplitudes. Providing initial support for predictive processing accounts of interoception, our results suggest that the stimulation of the vagus nerve may increase the precision with which interoceptive signals are processed, favoring their influence on allostatic adjustments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Ventura‐Bort
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human SciencesUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
| | - Mathias Weymar
- Department of Biological Psychology and Affective Science, Faculty of Human SciencesUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
- Faculty of Health Sciences BrandenburgUniversity of PotsdamPotsdamGermany
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8
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Bott FS, Nickel MM, Hohn VD, May ES, Gil Ávila C, Tiemann L, Gross J, Ploner M. Local brain oscillations and interregional connectivity differentially serve sensory and expectation effects on pain. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadd7572. [PMID: 37075123 PMCID: PMC10115421 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.add7572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Pain emerges from the integration of sensory information about threats and contextual information such as an individual's expectations. However, how sensory and contextual effects on pain are served by the brain is not fully understood so far. To address this question, we applied brief painful stimuli to 40 healthy human participants and independently varied stimulus intensity and expectations. Concurrently, we recorded electroencephalography. We assessed local oscillatory brain activity and interregional functional connectivity in a network of six brain regions playing key roles in the processing of pain. We found that sensory information predominantly influenced local brain oscillations. In contrast, expectations exclusively influenced interregional connectivity. Specifically, expectations altered connectivity at alpha (8 to 12 hertz) frequencies from prefrontal to somatosensory cortex. Moreover, discrepancies between sensory information and expectations, i.e., prediction errors, influenced connectivity at gamma (60 to 100 hertz) frequencies. These findings reveal how fundamentally different brain mechanisms serve sensory and contextual effects on pain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felix S. Bott
- Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center (TUM-NIC), TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Moritz M. Nickel
- Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center (TUM-NIC), TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Vanessa D. Hohn
- Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center (TUM-NIC), TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Elisabeth S. May
- Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center (TUM-NIC), TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Cristina Gil Ávila
- Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center (TUM-NIC), TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Laura Tiemann
- Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center (TUM-NIC), TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
| | - Joachim Gross
- Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
| | - Markus Ploner
- Department of Neurology and TUM-Neuroimaging Center (TUM-NIC), TUM School of Medicine, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
- Corresponding author.
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9
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De Ridder D, Friston K, Sedley W, Vanneste S. A parahippocampal-sensory Bayesian vicious circle generates pain or tinnitus: a source-localized EEG study. Brain Commun 2023; 5:fcad132. [PMID: 37223127 PMCID: PMC10202557 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Pain and tinnitus share common pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical features, and treatment approaches. A source-localized resting-state EEG study was conducted in 150 participants: 50 healthy controls, 50 pain, and 50 tinnitus patients. Resting-state activity as well as functional and effective connectivity was computed in source space. Pain and tinnitus were characterized by increased theta activity in the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex, extending to the lateral prefrontal cortex and medial anterior temporal lobe. Gamma-band activity was increased in both auditory and somatosensory cortex, irrespective of the pathology, and extended to the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and parahippocampus. Functional and effective connectivity were largely similar in pain and tinnitus, except for a parahippocampal-sensory loop that distinguished pain from tinnitus. In tinnitus, the effective connectivity between parahippocampus and auditory cortex is bidirectional, whereas the effective connectivity between parahippocampus and somatosensory cortex is unidirectional. In pain, the parahippocampal-somatosensory cortex is bidirectional, but parahippocampal auditory cortex unidirectional. These modality-specific loops exhibited theta-gamma nesting. Applying a Bayesian brain model of brain functioning, these findings suggest that the phenomenological difference between auditory and somatosensory phantom percepts result from a vicious circle of belief updating in the context of missing sensory information. This finding may further our understanding of multisensory integration and speaks to a universal treatment for pain and tinnitus-by selectively disrupting parahippocampal-somatosensory and parahippocampal-auditory theta-gamma activity and connectivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dirk De Ridder
- Unit of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgical Sciences, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
| | - Karl Friston
- Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, UK
| | - William Sedley
- Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
| | - Sven Vanneste
- Correspondence to: Sven Vanneste Lab for Clinical & Integrative Neuroscience Global Brain Health Institute and Institute of Neuroscience Trinity College Dublin, College Green 2, Dublin D02 PN40, Ireland E-mail:
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10
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Chen ZS. Hierarchical predictive coding in distributed pain circuits. Front Neural Circuits 2023; 17:1073537. [PMID: 36937818 PMCID: PMC10020379 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2023.1073537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Predictive coding is a computational theory on describing how the brain perceives and acts, which has been widely adopted in sensory processing and motor control. Nociceptive and pain processing involves a large and distributed network of circuits. However, it is still unknown whether this distributed network is completely decentralized or requires networkwide coordination. Multiple lines of evidence from human and animal studies have suggested that the cingulate cortex and insula cortex (cingulate-insula network) are two major hubs in mediating information from sensory afferents and spinothalamic inputs, whereas subregions of cingulate and insula cortices have distinct projections and functional roles. In this mini-review, we propose an updated hierarchical predictive coding framework for pain perception and discuss its related computational, algorithmic, and implementation issues. We suggest active inference as a generalized predictive coding algorithm, and hierarchically organized traveling waves of independent neural oscillations as a plausible brain mechanism to integrate bottom-up and top-down information across distributed pain circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn, NY, United States
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States
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11
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Gamma-band oscillations of pain and nociception: A systematic review and meta-analysis of human and rodent studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 146:105062. [PMID: 36682424 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
Pain-induced gamma-band oscillations (GBOs) are one of the most promising biomarkers of the pain experience. Although GBOs reliably encode pain perception across different individuals and species, considerable heterogeneity could be observed in the characteristics and functions of GBOs. However, such heterogeneity of GBOs and its underlying sources have rarely been detailed previously. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to characterize the temporal, frequential, and spatial characteristics of GBOs and summarize the functional significance of distinct GBOs. We found that GBO heterogeneity was mainly related to pain types, with a higher frequency (∼66 Hz) GBOs at the sensorimotor cortex elicited by phasic pain and a lower frequency (∼55 Hz) GBOs at the prefrontal cortex associated with tonic and chronic pains. Positive correlations between GBO magnitudes and pain intensity were observed in healthy participants. Notably, the characteristics and functions of GBOs seemed to be phylogenetically conserved across humans and rodents. Altogether, we provided a comprehensive description of heterogeneous GBOs in pain and nociception, laying the foundation for clinical applications of GBOs.
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12
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Strube A, Horing B, Rose M, Büchel C. Agency affects pain inference through prior shift as opposed to likelihood precision modulation in a Bayesian pain model. Neuron 2023; 111:1136-1151.e7. [PMID: 36731468 PMCID: PMC10109109 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/05/2023] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Agency and expectations play a crucial role in pain perception and treatment. In the Bayesian pain model, somatosensation (likelihood) and expectations (prior) are weighted by their precision and integrated to form a pain percept (posterior). Combining pain treatment with stimulus-related expectations allows the mechanistic assessment of whether agency enters this model as a shift of the prior or a relaxation of the likelihood precision. In two experiments, heat pain was sham treated either externally or by the subject, while a predictive cue was utilized to create high or low treatment expectations. Both experiments revealed additive effects and greater pain relief under self-treatment and high treatment expectations. Formal model comparisons favored a prior shift rather than a modulation of likelihood precision. Electroencephalography revealed a theta-to-alpha effect, temporally associated with expectations, which was correlated with trial-by-trial pain ratings, further supporting a prior shift through which agency exerts its influence in the Bayesian pain model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Strube
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Björn Horing
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Rose
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christian Büchel
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
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13
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Mulders D, Seymour B, Mouraux A, Mancini F. Confidence of probabilistic predictions modulates the cortical response to pain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2212252120. [PMID: 36669115 PMCID: PMC9942789 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2212252120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Pain typically evolves over time, and the brain needs to learn this temporal evolution to predict how pain is likely to change in the future and orient behavior. This process is termed temporal statistical learning (TSL). Recently, it has been shown that TSL for pain sequences can be achieved using optimal Bayesian inference, which is encoded in somatosensory processing regions. Here, we investigate whether the confidence of these probabilistic predictions modulates the EEG response to noxious stimuli, using a TSL task. Confidence measures the uncertainty about the probabilistic prediction, irrespective of its actual outcome. Bayesian models dictate that the confidence about probabilistic predictions should be integrated with incoming inputs and weight learning, such that it modulates the early components of the EEG responses to noxious stimuli, and this should be captured by a negative correlation: when confidence is higher, the early neural responses are smaller as the brain relies more on expectations/predictions and less on sensory inputs (and vice versa). We show that participants were able to predict the sequence transition probabilities using Bayesian inference, with some forgetting. Then, we find that the confidence of these probabilistic predictions was negatively associated with the amplitude of the N2 and P2 components of the vertex potential: the more confident were participants about their predictions, the smaller the vertex potential. These results confirm key predictions of a Bayesian learning model and clarify the functional significance of the early EEG responses to nociceptive stimuli, as being implicated in confidence-weighted statistical learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dounia Mulders
- Computational and Biological Learning Unit, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 1PZ, UK
- Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
- Institute for Information and Communication Technologies, Electronics and Applied Mathematics, UCLouvain, 1348 Louvain-la-NeuveBelgium
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and McGovern Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA02139
| | - Ben Seymour
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, OxfordOX3 9DU, UK
- Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), Osaka565-0871, Japan
| | - André Mouraux
- Institute of Neuroscience, UCLouvain, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Belgium
| | - Flavia Mancini
- Computational and Biological Learning Unit, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 1PZ, UK
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14
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Abstract
Pain is driven by sensation and emotion, and in turn, it motivates decisions and actions. To fully appreciate the multidimensional nature of pain, we formulate the study of pain within a closed-loop framework of sensory-motor prediction. In this closed-loop cycle, prediction plays an important role, as the interaction between prediction and actual sensory experience shapes pain perception and subsequently, action. In this Perspective, we describe the roles of two prominent computational theories-Bayesian inference and reinforcement learning-in modeling adaptive pain behaviors. We show that prediction serves as a common theme between these two theories, and that each of these theories can explain unique aspects of the pain perception-action cycle. We discuss how these computational theories and models can improve our mechanistic understandings of pain-centered processes such as anticipation, attention, placebo hypoalgesia, and pain chronification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhe Sage Chen
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Jing Wang
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Neuroscience Institute, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Interdisciplinary Pain Research Program, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY 10016, USA
- Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Care and Pain Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016, USA
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15
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Linde LD, Ortiz O, Choles CM, Kramer JLK. Pain-related gamma band activity is dependent on the features of nociceptive stimuli: a comparison of laser and contact heat. J Neurophysiol 2023; 129:262-270. [PMID: 36541610 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00357.2022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Painful contact heat and laser stimulation offer an avenue to characterize nociceptive pathways involved in acute pain processing, by way of evoked potentials. Direct comparisons of radiant laser and contact heat are limited, particularly in context of examining time-frequency responses to stimulation. This is important in light of recent evidence to suggest that gamma band oscillations (GBOs) represent a functionally heterogeneous measure of pain. The purpose of the current study was to investigate differences in GBOs generated in response to laser and contact heat stimulation of the nondominant forearm. Following intensity matching to pain ratings, evoked electroencephalography (EEG) responses to laser and contact heat stimulation were examined in the time-frequency domain in the same participants (19 healthy adults) across two sessions. At ∼200 ms, both contact heat and laser stimulation resulted in significant, group-level event-related synchronization (ERS) in the low gamma band (i.e., 30-60 Hz) in central electrode locations (Cc, Cz, Ci). Laser stimulation also generated ERS in the 60-100 Hz range (i.e., high gamma), at ∼200 ms, while contact heat led to a significant period of desynchronization in the high gamma range between 400 and 600 ms. Both contact heat and laser GBOs were stronger on the central electrodes contralateral to the stimulated forearm, indicative of primary somatosensory cortex involvement. Based on our findings, and taken in conjunction with previous studies, laser and contact heat stimulation generate characteristically different responses in the brain, with only the former leading to high-frequency GBOs characteristic of painful stimuli.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Despite matching pain perception between noxious laser and contact heat stimuli, we report notable differences in gamma band oscillations (GBO), measured via electroencephalography. GBOs produced following contact heat more closely resembled that of nonnoxious stimuli, while GBOs following laser stimuli were in line with previous reports. Taken together, laser and contact heat stimulation generate characteristically different responses in the brain, with only the former leading to high-frequency GBOs characteristic of painful stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukas D Linde
- International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Oscar Ortiz
- International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Cassandra M Choles
- International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - John L K Kramer
- International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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16
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Adhia DB, Mani R, Reynolds JN, Hall M, Vanneste S, De Ridder D. High-Definition Transcranial Infraslow Pink-Noise Stimulation Can Influence Functional and Effective Cortical Connectivity in Individuals With Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Randomized Placebo-Controlled Study. Neuromodulation 2022:S1094-7159(22)01225-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurom.2022.08.450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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17
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Late responses in the anterior insula reflect the cognitive component of pain: evidence of nonpain processing. Pain Rep 2022; 7:e984. [PMID: 35187379 PMCID: PMC8812601 DOI: 10.1097/pr9.0000000000000984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2021] [Revised: 11/11/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Distinguishing sensory and cognitive aspects of pain-related insular activity and the temporal profile of anterior insula activity suggested a key role of cognitive modulation. Introduction: Pain is a complex experience influenced by sensory and psychological factors. The insula is considered to be a core part of the pain network in the brain. Previous studies have suggested a relationship between the posterior insula (PI) and sensory processing, and between the anterior insula (AI) and cognitive–affective factors. Objectives: Our aim was to distinguish sensory and cognitive responses in pain-related insular activities. Methods: We recorded spatiotemporal insular activation patterns of healthy participants (n = 20) during pain or tactile processing with painful or nonpainful movie stimuli, using a magnetoencephalography. We compared the peak latency between PI and AI activities in each stimulus condition, and between pain and tactile processing in each response. The peak latency and amplitude between different movies were then examined to explore the effects of cognitive influence. A visual analogue scale was used to assess subjective perception. Results: The results revealed one clear PI activity and 2 AI activities (early and late) in insular responses induced by pain/tactile stimulation. The early response transmitted from the PI to AI was observed during sensory-associated brain activity, whereas the late AI response was observed during cognitive-associated activity. In addition, we found that painful movie stimuli had a significant influence on both late AI activity and subjective perception, caused by nonpainful actual stimulation. Conclusions: The current findings suggested that late AI activation reflects the processing of cognitive pain information, whereas the PI and early AI responses reflect sensory processing.
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18
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Temporal–spectral signaling of sensory information and expectations in the cerebral processing of pain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:2116616119. [PMID: 34983852 PMCID: PMC8740684 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2116616119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Pain is not only shaped by sensory information but also by an individual’s expectations. Here, we investigated how commonly analyzed electroencephalography (EEG) responses to pain signal sensory information, expectations, and discrepancies thereof (prediction errors) in the processing of pain. Bayesian analysis confirmed that pain perception was shaped by objective sensory information and expectations. In contrast, EEG responses at different latencies (including the N1, N2, and P2 components) and frequencies (including alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations) were shaped by sensory information but not by expectations. Thus, EEG responses to pain are more involved in signaling sensory information than in signaling expectations or prediction errors. Expectation effects are obviously mediated by other brain mechanisms than the effects of sensory information on pain. The perception of pain is shaped by somatosensory information about threat. However, pain is also influenced by an individual’s expectations. Such expectations can result in clinically relevant modulations and abnormalities of pain. In the brain, sensory information, expectations (predictions), and discrepancies thereof (prediction errors) are signaled by an extended network of brain areas which generate evoked potentials and oscillatory responses at different latencies and frequencies. However, a comprehensive picture of how evoked and oscillatory brain responses signal sensory information, predictions, and prediction errors in the processing of pain is lacking so far. Here, we therefore applied brief painful stimuli to 48 healthy human participants and independently modulated sensory information (stimulus intensity) and expectations of pain intensity while measuring brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). Pain ratings confirmed that pain intensity was shaped by both sensory information and expectations. In contrast, Bayesian analyses revealed that stimulus-induced EEG responses at different latencies (the N1, N2, and P2 components) and frequencies (alpha, beta, and gamma oscillations) were shaped by sensory information but not by expectations. Expectations, however, shaped alpha and beta oscillations before the painful stimuli. These findings indicate that commonly analyzed EEG responses to painful stimuli are more involved in signaling sensory information than in signaling expectations or mismatches of sensory information and expectations. Moreover, they indicate that the effects of expectations on pain are served by brain mechanisms which differ from those conveying effects of sensory information on pain.
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19
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Strube A, Rose M, Fazeli S, Büchel C. Alpha-to-beta- and gamma-band activity reflect predictive coding in affective visual processing. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23492. [PMID: 34873255 PMCID: PMC8648824 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02939-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Processing of negative affective pictures typically leads to desynchronization of alpha-to-beta frequencies (ERD) and synchronization of gamma frequencies (ERS). Given that in predictive coding higher frequencies have been associated with prediction errors, while lower frequencies have been linked to expectations, we tested the hypothesis that alpha-to-beta ERD and gamma ERS induced by aversive pictures are associated with expectations and prediction errors, respectively. We recorded EEG while volunteers were involved in a probabilistically cued affective picture task using three different negative valences to produce expectations and prediction errors. Our data show that alpha-to-beta band activity after stimulus presentation was related to the expected valence of the stimulus as predicted by a cue. The absolute mismatch of the expected and actual valence, which denotes an absolute prediction error was related to increases in alpha, beta and gamma band activity. This demonstrates that top-down predictions and bottom-up prediction errors are represented in typical spectral patterns associated with affective picture processing. This study provides direct experimental evidence that negative affective picture processing can be described by neuronal predictive coding computations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Strube
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
| | - Michael Rose
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sepideh Fazeli
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christian Büchel
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246, Hamburg, Germany
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20
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Atlas LY. A social affective neuroscience lens on placebo analgesia. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:992-1005. [PMID: 34538720 PMCID: PMC8516707 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Revised: 07/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Pain is a fundamental experience that promotes survival. In humans, pain stands at the intersection of multiple health crises: chronic pain, the opioid epidemic, and health disparities. The study of placebo analgesia highlights how social, cognitive, and affective processes can directly shape pain, and identifies potential paths for mitigating these crises. This review examines recent progress in the study of placebo analgesia through affective science. It focuses on how placebo effects are shaped by expectations, affect, and the social context surrounding treatment, and discusses neurobiological mechanisms of placebo, highlighting unanswered questions and implications for health. Collaborations between clinicians and social and affective scientists can address outstanding questions and leverage placebo to reduce pain and improve human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Y Atlas
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA; National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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21
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Strube A, Rose M, Fazeli S, Büchel C. The temporal and spectral characteristics of expectations and prediction errors in pain and thermoception. eLife 2021; 10:62809. [PMID: 33594976 PMCID: PMC7924946 DOI: 10.7554/elife.62809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In the context of a generative model, such as predictive coding, pain and heat perception can be construed as the integration of expectation and input with their difference denoted as a prediction error. In a previous neuroimaging study (Geuter et al., 2017) we observed an important role of the insula in such a model but could not establish its temporal aspects. Here, we employed electroencephalography to investigate neural representations of predictions and prediction errors in heat and pain processing. Our data show that alpha-to-beta activity was associated with stimulus intensity expectation, followed by a negative modulation of gamma band activity by absolute prediction errors. This is in contrast to prediction errors in visual and auditory perception, which are associated with increased gamma band activity, but is in agreement with observations in working memory and word matching, which show gamma band activity for correct, rather than violated, predictions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andreas Strube
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Michael Rose
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Sepideh Fazeli
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christian Büchel
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
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