Brain's pain centre found

Tuesday March 10th, 2015

Researchers say they have found the pain centre of the brain - potentially making it possible to use scientific tests to measure levels of misery.

The study at Oxford University found a direct link between how volunteers rated pain levels and measurements taken at the dorsal posterior insula.

They report that only this part of the brain responded to pain corresponded to volunteer reports.

Reporting in Nature Neuroscience, the researchers say the technique could be used to measure pain in people with limited communication abilities, such as small children and people in a coma.

The researchers used a cream containing capsaicin - extracted from chili peppers - to cause pain on the legs of 17 volunteers. They then used hot and cold water bottles to adjust pain levels.

They used a new technique called arterial spin labelling to track activity in the brain over several hours.

Researcher Professor Irene Tracey said: "Pain is a complex, multidimensional experience, which causes activity in many brain regions involved with things like attention, feeling emotions such as fear, locating where the pain is, and so on. But the dorsal posterior insula seems to be specific to the actual 'hurt level' of pain itself."

The dorsal posterior insula subserves a fundamental role in human pain. Nature Neuroscience 9 March 2015

Tags: Brain & Neurology | Pain Relief | UK News

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