Brain, behavior, and immunity
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Brain Behav. Immun. · Aug 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialImpact of acute inflammation on the extinction of aversive gut memories.
Impaired extinction of pain-related fear memories can lead to persistent or resurging fear of pain, contributing to the development and maintenance of chronic pain conditions. The mechanisms underlying maladaptive pain-related learning and memory processes remain incompletely understood, particularly in the context of interoceptive, visceral pain. Inflammation is known to interfere with learning and memory, but its effects on the extinction of pain-related fear memories have never been tested. ⋯ Despite pronounced LPS-induced effects on inflammatory markers, cortisol, and negative affect, we did not find evidence that acute inflammation resulted in altered fear extinction. The findings support the notion that visceral pain-related fear learning establishes a robust aversive memory trace that remains preserved during inhibitory learning, leaving a latent vulnerability for the return of fear. Inflammation during inhibitory learning did neither weaken nor further amplify this aversive memory trace, suggesting that it is rather resistant to acute inflammation-induced effects, at least in healthy individuals with no additional vulnerability factors.
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Brain Behav. Immun. · Nov 2019
Randomized Controlled TrialDifferent exercise modalities relieve pain syndrome in patients with knee osteoarthritis and modulate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: A multiple mode MRI study.
Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common degenerative joint disease with no satisfactory intervention. Recently, both physical and mindfulness exercises have received considerable attention for their implications in KOA pain management, and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has displayed a critical role in pain modulation. This study aimed to comparatively investigate the modulation effects of different exercises using multidisciplinary measurements. ⋯ Our results suggest that different exercises can modulate both common and unique DLPFC (cognitive control) pathways, and altered DLPFC-SMA rsFC is associated with serum biomarker levels. Our findings also highlight the potentials of neuroimaging biomarkers in predicting the therapeutic effect of mind-body exercises on KOA pain.
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Brain Behav. Immun. · Oct 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialA randomized, controlled trial of mindfulness-based stress reduction in HIV infection.
Evidence links depression and stress to more rapid progression of HIV-1 disease. We conducted a randomized controlled trial to test whether an intervention aimed at improving stress management and emotion regulation, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), would improve immunological (i.e. CD4+ T-cell counts) and psychological outcomes in persons with HIV-1 infection. ⋯ MBSR improved positive affect more than an active control arm in the 3 months following the start of the intervention. However, this difference was not maintained over the 12-month follow-up and there were no significant differences in immunologic outcomes between intervention groups. These results emphasize the need for further carefully designed research if we are to translate evidence linking psychological states to immunological outcomes into evidence-based clinical practices.
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Brain Behav. Immun. · Nov 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe translocator protein gene is associated with symptom severity and cerebral pain processing in fibromyalgia.
The translocator protein (TSPO) is upregulated during glia activation in chronic pain patients. TSPO constitutes the rate-limiting step in neurosteroid synthesis, thus modulating synaptic transmission. Related serotonergic mechanisms influence if pro- or anti-nociceptive neurosteroids are produced. ⋯ In conclusion, fibromyalgia patients with the TSPO high affinity binding genotype reported a higher pain intensity and more severe fibromyalgia symptoms compared to mixed/low affinity binders, and this was modulated by interaction with the serotonin transporter gene. To our knowledge this is the first evidence of functional genetic polymorphisms affecting pain severity in FM and our findings are in line with proposed glia-related mechanisms. Furthermore, the functional magnetic resonance findings indicated an effect of translocator protein on the affective-motivational components of pain perception.
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Brain Behav. Immun. · May 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialAlterations in functional connectivity of resting state networks during experimental endotoxemia - An exploratory study in healthy men.
Systemic inflammation impairs mood and cognitive functions, and seems to be involved in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies revealed altered task-related blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) responses during experimental endotoxemia, but little is known about effects of systemic inflammation on resting-state activity of the brain. Thus, we conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled study in healthy men receiving an intravenous injection of either low-dose (0.4 ng/kg) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (N=20) or placebo (N=25). ⋯ Seed based analysis revealed greater functional connectivity between the left thalamus and the cerebellum after LPS compared to placebo administration, while the functional coupling between seeds within the amygdala, insula, and cingulate cortex and various brain regions including parieto-frontal networks was significantly reduced. Within the LPS group, endotoxin-induced increases in Interleukin (IL)-6 were significantly associated with resting-state connectivity between the left thalamus and left precuneus as well as the right posterior cingulate cortex. In summary, this exploratory study provides first evidence that systemic inflammation affects the coupling and regulation of multiple networks within the human brain at rest.