Pain is a multidimensional experience whose perception and processing vary inter-individually and are influenced by genetic factors. In the present neuroimaging study of a group of healthy men (n=30), we examined the central-nervous correlates of a possible sensitization by repetitive pain stimulation depending on the VAL
158MET-polymorphism and haplotypes of the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) respectively. For a period of eleven days, the test persons received a heat pain stimulation of 20 minutes per day. A comparison between the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data of the first and the last day did not show any central-nervous activation differences. Also, there was no evidence for habituation or sensitization of the subjective pain sensation. These results suggest that the examined polymorphism and haplotypes of the COMT respectively have no influence on the perception, processing and sensitization of pain.
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Pain is a multidimensional experience whose perception and processing vary inter-individually and are influenced by genetic factors. In the present neuroimaging study of a group of healthy men (n=30), we examined the central-nervous correlates of a possible sensitization by repetitive pain stimulation depending on the VAL
158MET-polymorphism and haplotypes of the catechol-O-methyl transferase (COMT) respectively. For a period of eleven days, the test persons received a heat pain stimulation of 20...
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