Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation cérébrale
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Behavioral studies found greater pain sensitivity in females that vanishes fully or partially when controlling for the emotional state. Furthermore, pain-related brain activation hints at the role of limbic structures in sex differences in pain processing. We aimed to investigate the role of pain-related limbic structures in mediating the relation between subjects' affective state (i.e., anxiety) and pain. ⋯ Moreover, the P2 amplitudes were associated both in females (r = 0.645, p = 0.017) and males (r = 0.608, p = 0.028) with the activity of the amygdala\hippocampus\insula. SEM revealed that the relationship between state anxiety and pain ratings was only in females fully mediated via the effect of the pMCC on the P2 amplitude. These findings suggest that sexual dimorphism in anxiety-related brain activity may explain the differences found in CHEPs and the sex-related association between anxiety and pain.