Genetic Influence on Nociceptive Processing in the Human Brain-A Twin Study.

Gránit Kastrati,Thomas E Nichols,Irene Tracey,Fredrik Åhs,William H Thompson,Henrik Larsson,Karin B Jensen,Peter Fransson,Jörgen Rosén,Xu Chen

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhab206

Abstract

Nociceptive processing in the human brain is complex and involves several brain structures and varies across individuals. Determining the structures that contribute to interindividual differences in nociceptive processing is likely to improve our understanding of why some individuals feel more pain than others. Here, we found specific parts of the cerebral response to nociception that are under genetic influence by employing a classic twin-design. We found genetic influences on nociceptive processing in the midcingulate cortex and bilateral posterior insula. In addition to brain activations, we found genetic contributions to large-scale functional connectivity (FC) during nociceptive processing. We conclude that additive genetics influence specific brain regions involved in nociceptive processing. The genetic influence on FC during nociceptive processing is not limited to core nociceptive brain regions, such as the dorsal posterior insula and somatosensory areas, but also involves cognitive and affective brain circuitry. These findings improve our understanding of human pain perception and increases chances to find new treatments for clinical pain.

Highlights

Nociceptive processing is crucial for survival as it provides an organism with information about potential or actual tissue damage
Estimates of the genetic influence on brain responses during nociceptive processing was constrained to brain regions defined by the Neurologic Pain Signature (Wager et al 2013)
We found significant genetic influence on activity in brain regions typically activated by nociceptive processing (Fig. 1 and Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Nociceptive processing is crucial for survival as it provides an organism with information about potential or actual tissue damage. In humans, neuroimaging studies have established a large network of brain regions that consistently activate in response to nociceptive information (Jensen et al 2016). Most such activations are evoked independently of type of nociceptive input and can be found in infants with minimal prior exposure to pain (Goksan et al 2015). This suggests that genes modulate basic aspects of nociceptive processing in the human brain. The genetic influence on sensitivity to experimental pain, for example, has been investigated by comparing identical and fraternal

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Conclusion