BackgroundTrigeminal neuralgia (TN) is a chronic neuropathic pain disorder that not only causes intense pain but also affects the psychological health of patients. Since TN pain intensity and negative emotion may be grounded in our own pain experiences, they exhibit huge inter-individual differences. This study investigates the effect of inter-individual differences in pain intensity and negative emotion on brain structure in patients with TN and the possible pathophysiology mechanism underlying this disease.MethodsT1 weighted magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging scans were obtained in 46 patients with TN and 35 healthy controls. All patients with TN underwent pain-related and emotion-related questionnaires. Voxel-based morphometry and regional white matter diffusion property analysis were used to investigate whole brain grey and white matter quantitatively. Innovatively employing partial least squares correlation analysis to explore the relationship among pain intensity, negative emotion and brain microstructure in patients with TN.ResultsSignificant difference in white matter integrity were identified in patients with TN compared to the healthy controls group; The most correlation brain region in the partial least squares correlation analysis was the genus of the corpus callosum, which was negatively associated with both pain intensity and negative emotion.ConclusionThe genu of corpus callosum plays an important role in the cognition of pain perception, the generation and conduction of negative emotions in patients with TN. These findings may deepen our understanding of the pathophysiology of TN.

中文翻译：

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三叉神经痛患者胼胝体膝部白质特征与疼痛强度和负性情绪评分的多因素分析

研究背景三叉神经痛（TN）是一种慢性神经病理性疼痛疾病，不仅会引起剧烈疼痛，还会影响患者的心理健康。由于 TN 疼痛强度和负面情绪可能源于我们自己的疼痛经历，因此它们表现出巨大的个体差异。本研究探讨疼痛强度和负性情绪的个体差异对TN患者大脑结构的影响以及该疾病可能的病理生理机制。方法对46例TN患者进行T1加权磁共振成像和弥散张量成像扫描。 35 名健康对照。所有 TN 患者均接受了疼痛相关和情绪相关的问卷调查。基于体素的形态测量和区域白质扩散特性分析用于定量研究全脑灰质和白质。创新性地采用偏最小二乘相关分析探讨TN患者疼痛强度、负性情绪与脑微结构之间的关系。结果TN患者脑白质完整性与健康对照组相比存在显着性差异；偏最小二乘相关性分析中相关性最强的脑区是胼胝体膝部，该部位与疼痛强度和负性情绪均呈负相关。 TN患者负性情绪的传导。这些发现可能会加深我们对 TN 病理生理学的理解。