Stimulus Site and Modality Dependence of Functional Activity Within the Human Spinal Cord

Yazhuo Kong¹, Michael Lee², Catherine Warnaby¹, Vishwani Wanigasekera¹, Mark Jenkinson¹, Irene Tracey¹, Jonathan Brooks¹

Chronic pain is thought to arise due to maladaptive changes occurring at the level of the spinal cord. To investigate such changes in humans, a non-invasive neuroimaging technique is desirable. We have investigated the functional response in the spinal cord of 18 healthy subjects to noxious stimulation using punctate and thermal stimulation of the left and right arms. Group analysis, revealed distinct regions of activity within the spinal cord that were dependent on both the side of stimulation and the type of stimulus used. These results present the first non-invasive evidence for a lateralised and stimulus-specific spinal cord response.