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. 2010 Aug 25;211(2):215-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2010.03.042. Epub 2010 Mar 27.

Intrinsic functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray, a resting fMRI study

Jian Kong  1 , Pei-chi Tu, Carolyn Zyloney, Tung-ping Su
Affiliations

Intrinsic functional connectivity of the periaqueductal gray, a resting fMRI study

Jian Kong et al. Behav Brain Res. .

Abstract

The periaqueductal gray (PAG) is known to play a crucial role in pain modulation and has shown a strong interaction with anterior cingulate cortex in previous functional imaging studies. We investigated the intrinsic functional connectivity of PAG using resting fMRI data from 100 subjects. The results showed that PAG is functionally connected to ACC (rostral and pregenual ACC) and also rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM), forming a core ACC-PAG-RVM network for pain modulation even no pain stimulus is applied. The comparison between genders showed that for the contrast of female minus male, significant difference was observed at mid-cingulate cortex; for the contrast of male minus female, significant differences were observed at left medial orbital prefrontal cortex, and uncus; right insula/operculum and prefrontal cortex. We believe eluciation of this intrinsic PAG network during the resting state will enhance our physiological and pathological understandings of the development and maintenance of chronic pain states.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Representative brain regions showing positive functional connectivity with ventrolateral PAG: rACC, rostral ACC; pACC, pre-genual ACC; Cere, cerebellum; RVM, ventromedial medulla; GP, globus pallidum; Hi, hippocampus; AI, anterior insula. R indicates right side.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Representative brain regions showing negative functional connectivity with ventrolateral PAG: PoCG, post-central gyrus; mOG, middle occipital gyrus; PI, posterior insula; LOPFC, lateral orbital prefrontal cortex. R indicates right side.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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