Journal article

The impact of Alzheimer's disease on the functional connectivity between brain regions underlying pain perception

LJ Cole, M Gavrilescu, LA Johnston, SJ Gibson, MJ Farrell, GF Egan

European Journal of Pain (United Kingdom) | Published : 2010

Abstract

© 2010 European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are administered fewer analgesics and report less clinical pain compared with their cognitively-intact peers, prompting much speculation about the likely impact of neurodegeneration on pain perception and processing. This study used functional connectivity analysis to examine the impact of AD on the integrated functioning of brain regions mediating the sensory, emotional, and cognitive aspects of pain. Fourteen patients with AD and 15 controls attended two experimental sessions. In an initial psychophysical testing sess..

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University of Melbourne Researchers