Central Neural Mechanisms that Interrelate Sensory and Affective Dimensions of Pain

Pain affect modulation. Left side: Hypnotic suggestions for increased (High) and decreased (Low) pain unpleasantness produce corresponding increases (left sagittal scan) or decreases (right sagittal scan) in neural activity (measured by rCBF) in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) but no change in S-1 somatosensory cortex (S1), similar to respective effects on subjects unpleasantness and sensation intensity ratings. Right side: Correlation between ACC activity and unpleasantness ratings after pain intensity and inter-subject related variances are removed from both factors (ANCOVA).