I am a
Home I AM A Search Login

Papers of the Week


1997 Aug 15


Science


277


5328

Classic Paper

Pain affect encoded in human anterior cingulate but not somatosensory cortex.

Authors

Rainville P, Duncan GH, Price DD, Carrier B, Bushnell MC
Science. 1997 Aug 15; 277(5328):968-71.
PMID: 9252330.

Abstract

Recent evidence demonstrating multiple regions of human cerebral cortex activated by pain has prompted speculation about their individual contributions to this complex experience. To differentiate cortical areas involved in pain affect, hypnotic suggestions were used to alter selectively the unpleasantness of noxious stimuli, without changing the perceived intensity. Positron emission tomography revealed significant changes in pain-evoked activity within anterior cingulate cortex, consistent with the encoding of perceived unpleasantness, whereas primary somatosensory cortex activation was unaltered. These findings provide direct experimental evidence in humans linking frontal-lobe limbic activity with pain affect, as originally suggested by early clinical lesion studies.