The neural correlates of pain-related fear: A meta-analysis comparing fear conditioning studies using painful and non-painful stimuli. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Biggs, Emma E.; Timmers, Inge; Meulders, Ann; Vlaeyen, Johan W.S.; Goebel, Rainer; Kaas, Amanda L.
• Is Part Of: Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews. Volume 119(2020)
• Page Start: 52
• Page End: 65
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: Pain -- Fear -- Conditioning -- Meta-analysis -- Magnetic resonance imaging -- Chronic pain; Psychophysiology -- Periodicals; Human behavior -- Periodicals; Animal behavior -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Behavior -- Periodicals; Ethology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; Psychophysiologie -- Périodiques; Comportement humain -- Périodiques; Animaux -- Mœurs et comportement -- Périodiques; Neurologie -- Périodiques; Animal behavior; Human behavior; Neurology; Psychophysiology; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 573.8
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0149-7634

Abstract

Highlights: Pain- and non-pain-related conditioned fear can be distinguished on a neural level There are different neural correlates of fear dependent on US type. …as well as shared neural correlates that respond proportional to US aversiveness. Abstract: Compared to the field of anxiety research, the use of fear conditioning paradigms for studying chronic pain is relatively novel. Developments in identifying the neural correlates of pain-related fear are important for understanding the mechanisms underlying chronic pain and warrant synthesis to establish the state-of-the-art. Using effect-size signed differential mapping, this meta-analysis combined nine MRI studies and compared the overlap in these correlates of pain-related fear to those of other non-pain-related conditioned fears (55 studies). Pain-related fear was characterized by neural activation of the supramarginal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, inferior/middle frontal gyri, frontal operculum and insula, pre-/post-central gyri, medial frontal and (para-)cingulate cortex, hippocampus, thalamus, and putamen. There were differences with other non-pain-related conditioned fears, specifically in the inferior frontal gyrus, medial superior frontal gyrus, post-central gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, parieto-occipital sulcus, and striatum. We conclude that pain-related and non-pain-related conditioned fears recruit overlapping but distinguishable networks, with potential implications for understanding the mechanisms underlying different psychopathologies.