95% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Applied Neuroimaging
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1542691
This article is part of the Research Topic Advanced fNIRS Applications in Neuroscience and Neurological Disorders View all 16 articles
Evaluation of pressure-induced pain in patients with disorders of consciousness based on functional near infrared spectroscopy
Provisionally accepted
Tan Zhang 1
Nan Wang 2
Xiaoke Chai 3
Qiheng He 3
Tianqing Cao 3 Liqun Yuan 1 Qing Lan 1*
Yi Yang 4*
Jizong Zhao 3*- 1 Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
- 2 Department of Neurosurgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- 3 Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- 4 China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
Objective: this study aimed to investigate the brain's hemodynamic responses (HRO) and functional connectivity in patients with disorders of consciousness (DoC) in response to acute pressure pain stimulation using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).Methods:patients diagnosed with DoC underwent pressure stimulation while brain activity was measured using NIRS. Changes in oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) and deoxygenated hemoglobin (HbR) concentrations were monitored across several regions of interest (ROIs), including the primary somatosensory cortex (PSC), primary motor cortex (PMC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dPFC), somatosensory association cortex (SAC), temporal gyrus (TG), and frontopolar area (FPA). Functional connectivity was assessed during pre-stimulation, stimulation, and post-stimulation phases.Results: no significant changes in HbO or HbR concentrations were observed during the stimulation vs. baseline or stimulation vs. post-stimulation comparisons, indicating minimal activation of the targeted brain regions in response to the pressure stimulus. However, functional connectivity between key regions, particularly the PSC, PMC, and dPFC, showed significant enhancement during the stimulation phase (r > 0.9, p < 0.001), suggesting greater coordination among sensory, motor, and cognitive regions. These changes in connectivity were not accompanied by significant activation in pain-related brain areas.Conclusion: although pain-induced brain activation was minimal in patients with DoC, enhanced functional connectivity during pain stimulation suggests that the brain continues to process pain information through coordinated activity between regions. The findings highlight the importance of assessing functional connectivity as a potential method for evaluating pain processing in patients with DoC.
Keywords: disorders of consciousness, functional connectivity, Hemodynamic responses, near-infrared spectroscopy, Pressure-induced pain ROIs,Regions of Interest, SAC, Somatosensory Association Cortex, PSC,Primary Somatosensory Cortex, TG, Temporal Gyrus
Received: 10 Dec 2024; Accepted: 17 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Wang, Chai, He, Cao, Yuan, Lan, Yang and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Qing Lan, Department of Neurosurgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Yi Yang, China National Clinical Research Center for Neurological Diseases, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100050, China
Jizong Zhao, Department of Neurosurgery, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100050, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.