Human Cerebellar Activation during Painful Cold Stimulation:a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study / 신경정신의학

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: We report a functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) method for mapping human cerebellar activity during painful cold-stimulation. METHODS: Six healthy volunteers experienced painful thermal stimulation induced by holding an ice bag(0-3C) in their left hand while lying still in 1.5 Tesla MR scanner. In order to capture the hemodynamic BOLD(blood oxygenation level dependent) response associated with the stimuli, a series of susceptibility-weighted MR images were acquired, and a statistical parametric map was generated to visualize and quantify the eloquent areas of brain activation. RESULTS: In addition to cerebral areas including anterior/posterior cingulate gyri, prefrontal cortex, and insula, our results suggested that several cerebellar areas such as quadrangular lobule, bilateral gracile and semilunar lobules were involved in the experience of pain during cold stimulation. CONCLUSIONS: Human cerebellum, in addition to the cerebrum, is involved in the cognition and processing painful sensory stimulation.