Dorsal root ganglion stimulation attenuates the BOLD signal response to noxious sensory input in specific brain regions: Insights into a possible mechanism for analgesia. Neuroimage 2017 Feb 15;147:10-18
Date
11/24/2016Pubmed ID
27876655DOI
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.11.046Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85003856314 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 44 CitationsAbstract
Targeted dorsal root ganglion (DRG) electrical stimulation (i.e. ganglionic field stimulation - GFS) is an emerging therapeutic approach to alleviate chronic pain. Here we describe blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses to noxious hind-limb stimulation in a rat model that replicates clinical GFS using an electrode implanted adjacent to the DRG. Acute noxious sensory stimulation in the absence of GFS caused robust BOLD fMRI response in brain regions previously associated with sensory and pain-related response, such as primary/secondary somatosensory cortex, retrosplenial granular cortex, thalamus, caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, globus pallidus, and amygdala. These regions differentially demonstrated either positive or negative correlation to the acute noxious stimulation paradigm, in agreement with previous rat fMRI studies. Therapeutic-level GFS significantly attenuated the global BOLD response to noxious stimulation in these regions. This BOLD signal attenuation persisted for 20minutes after the GFS was discontinued. Control experiments in sham-operated animals showed that the attenuation was not due to the effect of repetitive noxious stimulation. Additional control experiments also revealed minimal BOLD fMRI response to GFS at therapeutic intensity when presented in a standard block-design paradigm. High intensity GFS produced a BOLD signal map similar to acute noxious stimulation when presented in a block-design. These findings are the first to identify the specific brain region responses to neuromodulation at the DRG level and suggest possible mechanisms for GFS-induced treatment of chronic pain.
Author List
Pawela CP, Kramer JM, Hogan QHAuthors
Quinn H. Hogan MD Professor in the Anesthesiology department at Medical College of WisconsinChristopher Pawela PhD Associate Professor in the Biomedical Engineering department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnalgesiaAnimals
Electric Stimulation Therapy
Electrodes, Implanted
Foot
Ganglia, Spinal
Hindlimb
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Oxygen
Pain
Pain Management
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Spinal Cord Stimulation
