摘要
Pain perception and its genesis in the human brain have been reviewed recently. In the current article, the reports on pain modulation in the human brain were reviewed from higher cortical regulation, i.e. top-down effect, particularly studied in psychological determinants. Pain modulation can be examined by gene therapy, physical modulation, pharmacological modulation, psychological modulation, and pathophysiological modulation. In psychological modulation, this article exam- ined （a） willed determination, （b） distraction, （c） placebo, （d） hypnosis, （e） meditation, （f） qi-gong, （g） belief, and （h） emotions, respectively, in the brain function for pain modulation. In each, the operational definition, cortical processing, neuroimaging, and pain modulation were systematically deliberated. However, not all studies had featured the brain modulation processing but rather demonstrated potential effects on human pain. In our own studies on the emotional modulation on human pain, we observed that emotions could be induced from music melodies or pictures perception for reduction of tonic human pain, mainly in potentiation of the posterior alpha EEG fields, likely resulted from underneath activities of precuneous in regulation of consciousness, including pain perception. To sum, higher brain functions become the leading edge research in all sciences. How to solve the information bit of thinking and feeling in the brain can be the greatest challenge of human intelligence. Application of higher cortical modulation of human pain and suffering can lead to the progress of social humanity and civilization.
最近的研究报道了痛知觉和它的人脑起源。本文综述了人类疼痛的高等皮层调节(下行调节),尤其强调了心理要素。疼痛调节可包括基因治疗、生理、药理、心理和病理生理调节。在心理学调节中,本文从脑功能变化对疼痛的调节分别阐述了以下方面:(a)意志,(b)分心,(c)安慰剂,(d)催眠,(e)沉思,(f)气功,(g)信念,(h)情绪。本文系统详实地描述了操作定义、皮层处理、脑成像和疼痛调节。尽管并非所有研究均集中于疼痛调节的进展,但它们证明了人类疼痛调节的潜在方法。在对情绪调节疼痛的研究中,音乐旋律和图片认知对人持续性疼痛的调节作用已逐渐被发现。脑电量定位研究显示其机理主要为α波的增加,这可能与侧顶叶皮层对意识的调节和疼痛感知有关。总之,高等脑功能正成为最顶端的科学研究领域。如何解开思维及情绪在脑中的编码是人类崇高的智慧挑战。应用高等脑功能解脱人类的痛苦是人道的文明进展。
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.30770691),Beijing Municipal Government for Advancement of Sciences,and Capital Medical University for Innovation Awards
