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Abstract #4137

fMRI of Pain Processing in Diabetic Neuropathy

Jennifer L. Davies1, Dinesh Selvarajah2, Michael D. Hunter3, Elaine Cachia1, Adithya Sankar1, Irene Tracey4, Solomon Tesfaye2, Iain D. Wilkinson1

1Academic Radiology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom; 2Diabetes, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals; 3Academic Psychiatry, University of Sheffield; 4Oxford University


Diabetic Neuropathy (DN) is a common, debilitating complication of diabetes, often associated with chronic pain. This study investigates the brains response to acute thermal pain stimulation in: 10 patients with Painful-DN; 10 with Painless-DN and 10 Healthy Volunteers (HV), using BOLD fMRI at 3T. The response was evaluated using a GLM. At the group level, greater BOLD-response in the foot (neuropathic area) vs the thigh (control area) was present in the somatosensory, prefrontal and anterior cingulated cortices when comparing the painful-DN to the HV groups and in the prefrontal cortex when comparing the painful-DN to the painless-DN groups.

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