The dissertation deals with changes of intrinsic brain networks after repetitive painful stimuli in humans (fMRI study). We observed a change in pain perception by painful stimulation over eleven days and also a lasting effect on the sensorimotor network together with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The nociceptive stimuli therefore cause not only an immediate reaction of the brain at the moment of the incoming stimulus but also change the neuronal activity in the following states of rest. The continous changes of the sensorimotor intrinsic network immediately after the painful stimulation point at a somatsensory short-term memory, which correlates with the pain-intensity. There are also medium-term changes of rest activity, which are independent of behavioral parameters as fear or cognitive aspects of pain processing. How intense the immediate stimulation will be felt can be predicted by the changed rest activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex before the painful stimuli. The conclusion is that a recurring exposure to pain changes the pattern of intrinsic activity in somatosensory and ventromedial prefrontal areas; this has effects on future perception and processing of pain.
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