Subcortical Brain Networks and Pain Inhibition in Nonsuicidal Self-Injury
Poster No:
513
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Karin Jensen1, Sebastian Blomé1, Jens Fust1, Rosaleena Mohanty1, Johan Bjureberg1, Nitya Jayaram-Lindström1, Eric Westman1, Eva Kosek2, Clara Hellner1, William Thompson3, Maria Lalouni1
Institutions:
1Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, 2Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, 3University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Pain is inherently aversive but provides emotional relief for individuals engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). While it may provide short-term relief from negative emotions, NSSI leads to long-term suffering, disability, and potentially escalates to serious harm or suicide attempts. Despite the severity and a high prevalence of NSSI in adolescents, the neural mechanisms underlying pain processing in these individuals, a core feature of the behavior, remain unclear.
Methods:
In this study, we used experimental pain testing and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to examine brain structure and function related to pain regulation in individuals with NSSI (n=41) compared to healthy controls (n=40). To determine functional brain networks, the Schaefer parcellation atlas was used (Schaefer et al., 2018) in which 400 cortical nodes are mapped to 7 different brain networks (Yeo et al., 2011). The Harvard-Oxford subcortical atlas was used to determine a subcortical brain network.
Results:
Results showed enhanced inhibitory pain regulation in NSSI, and resting-state functional MRI revealed increased connectivity between the somatomotor and subcortical brain networks, particularly involving the thalamus and caudate nucleus.
·rsfMRI brain connectivity results.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that individuals with NSSI may rely more heavily on sensory processing to regulate emotions, compared to prefrontal-subcortical circuitry used for inhibitory control. This is the first evidence linking specific brain circuits to pain regulation and self-injury behavior, offering potential pathways for more effective treatments for NSSI and related mental health conditions.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
fMRI Connectivity and Network Modeling 2
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI
Keywords:
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Pain
Psychiatric
Sub-Cortical
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Was this research conducted in the United States?
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel? NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Yeo, B. T., Krienen, F. M., Sepulcre, J., Sabuncu, M. R., Lashkari, D., Hollinshead, M., Roffman, J. L., Smoller, J. W., Zöllei, L., Polimeni, J. R., Fischl, B., Liu, H., & Buckner, R. L. (2011). The organization of the human cerebral cortex estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity. J Neurophysiol, 106(3), 1125-1165.