Neurogastroenterology and motility : the official journal of the European Gastrointestinal Motility Society
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Neurogastroenterol. Motil. · Jun 2017
Learning by experience? Visceral pain-related neural and behavioral responses in a classical conditioning paradigm.
Studies investigating mechanisms underlying nocebo responses in pain have mainly focused on negative expectations induced by verbal suggestions. Herein, we addressed neural and behavioral correlates of nocebo responses induced by classical conditioning in a visceral pain model. ⋯ We report changes in neural activation patterns during anticipation and visceral stimulation induced by prior conditioning. In the absence of behavioral effects, markedly altered neural responses may indicate conditioning with visceral signals to induce hypervigilance rather than hyperalgesia, involving altered attention, reappraisal, and perceptual acuity as processes contributing to the pathophysiology of visceral pain.