Distinct fMRI patterns colocalized in the cingulate cortex underlie the after-effects of cognitive control on pain
Nicolas Silvestrini,
Jen-I Chen,
Mathieu Piché,
Mathieu Roy,
Etienne Vachon-Presseau,
Choong-Wan Woo,
Tor D. Wager,
Pierre Rainville
Affiliations
Nicolas Silvestrini
Geneva Motivation Lab, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Corresponding author. Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Section of Psychology, University of Geneva, Boulevard du Pont-d’Arve 40, CH-1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland.
Jen-I Chen
Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Mathieu Piché
Département de Chiropratique, Université Du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada
Mathieu Roy
Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montréal, Canada
Etienne Vachon-Presseau
Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montréal, Canada; Department of Anesthesia, McGill University, Montréal, Canada; Alan Edwards Centre for Research on Pain (AECRP), McGill University, Montréal, Canada
Choong-Wan Woo
Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science, Suwon, Republic of Korea; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea
Tor D. Wager
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA; Institute of Cognitive Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
Pierre Rainville
Research Center of the Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Groupe de recherche sur le système nerveux Central, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada; Department of Stomatology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Demanding tasks can influence following behaviors but the underlying mechanisms remain largely unclear. In the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we used multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) to compare patterns of brain activity associated with pain in response to noxious stimuli administered after a task requiring cognitive control (Stroop) and evaluate their functional interaction based on a mediation analysis model. We found that performing a difficult cognitive task leads to subsequent increases in pain and pain-related multivariate responses across the brain and within the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC). Moreover, an aMCC pattern predictive of task performance was further reactivated during pain and predicted ensuing increases in pain-related brain responses. This suggests functional interactions between distinct but partly co-localized neural networks underlying executive control and pain. These findings offer a new perspective on the functional role of the cingulate cortex in pain and cognition and provide a promising framework to investigate dynamical interactions between partly overlapping brain networks.
