Age-related differences in pain sensitivity and regional brain activity evoked by noxious pressure
Age-related differences in pain sensitivity and regional brain activity evoked by noxious pressure
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DOI：
10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2008.04.012
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发表时间：
2010-03-01
影响因子：
4.2
通讯作者：
Egan, Gary F.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Cole, Leonie J.;Farrell, Michael J.;Egan, Gary F.
与年轻人相比，老年人报告的慢性疼痛症状更多，对实验性疼痛的耐受性降低。正常衰老时脑实质的萎缩是有充分记录的，灰质减少发生在许多已知参与疼痛处理的区域。然而，这些变化的功能后果，特别是它们对与年龄相关的疼痛感知和报告差异的贡献，尚未阐明。本研究通过比较15名年轻人(26岁+/-3岁)和15名老年人(79岁+/-4岁)对伤害性压力刺激的局部脑反应，探讨了年龄对棘上疼痛处理的影响。两组患者在包括脑岛、扣带回、顶叶后皮质和躯体感觉皮质在内的共同区域表现出显著的疼痛相关活动。然而，与老年人相比，年轻受试者在对侧壳核和尾状核显示出明显更大的活动，这不能用这些区域随年龄增长而收缩的原因来解释。本研究中看到的与年龄相关的疼痛诱发活动的差异可能反映了纹状体疼痛调节机制随着年龄的增长而功能减弱。(C)2008 Elsevier Inc.保留所有权利。
Compared with young adults, older people report more chronic pain complaints, and show reduced tolerance to experimental pain. Atrophy of brain parenchyma in normal ageing is well documented, with grey matter reduction occurring across many regions known to be involved in pain processing. However, the functional consequences of these changes, in particular their contribution toward age-related differences in pain perception and report, are yet to be elucidated. The present study investigated the effects of ageing on supraspinal pain processing by comparing regional brain responses to noxious pressure stimulation in 15 young (aged 26 +/- 3 years) and 15 older (aged 79 +/- 4 years) adults. Both groups showed significant pain-related activity in a common network of areas including the insula, cingulate, posterior parietal and somatosensory cortices. However, compared with older adults, young subjects showed significantly greater activity in the contralateral putamen and caudate, which could not be accounted for by increased age-associated shrinkage in these regions. The age-related difference in pain-evoked activity seen in the present study may reflect reduced functioning of striatal pain modulatory mechanisms with advancing age. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.