Amplified Brain Processing of Dentoalveolar Pressure Stimulus in Persistent @entity2531 XXXX .

@entity1 @entity308 @entity73 @entity2531 @entity158
AIMS: (1) To determine the brain regions activated by dentoalveolar pressure stimulation in persistent @entity2531 (PDAP) @entity1 , and (2) to compare these activation patterns to those seen in @entity158 -free control subjects. METHODS: A total of 13 PDAP @entity1 and 13 matched controls completed the study. Clinical @entity158 characteristics and psychosocial data were collected. @entity158 thresholds were determined with a custom-made device over the painful area for @entity1 and were used as the stimulation level during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data acquisition. Control subjects received two stimulation levels over matched locations during fMRI scanning: one determined (as above) that evoked equally subjective @entity158 ratings matching those of @entity1 (subjective- @entity158 match) and another nonpainful stimulation level matching the average stimulus intensity provided to @entity1 (stimulus-intensity match). Clinical and psychosocial data were analyzed using independent samples t tests, Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient. fMRI data were analyzed using validated neuroimaging software and tested using a general linear model. RESULTS: PDAP @entity1 had greater @entity308 scores (P = .001), @entity73 (P < .0001), and greater social impact (P < .0001) than controls. No significant differences were found for brain activation spatial extent (PDAP X Controls subjective @entity158 : P = .48; PDAP X Controls stimulus intensity: P = .12). Brain activations were significantly increased for PDAP @entity1 compared to control subjects when matched to stimulus intensity in several regions related to the sensory-discriminative and cognitive components of @entity158 perception, including the primary and secondary somatosensory cortices, inferior parietal lobule, insula, premotor cortex, prefrontal cortex, and thalamus. When matched to subjective @entity158 ratings, increased brain activations were still present for PDAP @entity1 compared to controls, although to a lesser extent. CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that dentoalveolar pressure is processed differently in the brain of PDAP @entity1 , and the increased activation in several brain areas is consistent with amplified @entity158 processing.
