Open AccessFiltering the reality: Functional dissociation of lateral and medial pain systems during sleep in humans
Author(s) -
Bastuji Hélène,
Mazza Stéphanie,
Perchet Caroline,
Frot Maud,
Mauguière François,
Magnin Michel,
GarciaLarrea Luis
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.21390
Subject(s) - neuroscience , sensory system , psychology , anterior cingulate cortex , insular cortex , somatosensory system , rapid eye movement sleep , dissociation (chemistry) , cingulate cortex , insula , eye movement , central nervous system , cognition , chemistry
Behavioral reactions to sensory stimuli during sleep are scarce despite preservation of sizeable cortical responses. To further understand such dissociation, we recorded intracortical field potentials to painful laser pulses in humans during waking and all‐night sleep. Recordings were obtained from the three cortical structures receiving 95% of the spinothalamic cortical input in primates, namely the parietal operculum, posterior insula, and mid‐anterior cingulate cortex. The dynamics of responses during sleep differed among cortical sites. In sleep Stage 2, evoked potential amplitudes were similarly attenuated relative to waking in all three cortical regions. During paradoxical, or rapid eye movements (REM), sleep, opercular and insular potentials remained stable in comparison with Stage 2, whereas the responses from mid‐anterior cingulate abated drastically, and decreasing below background noise in half of the subjects. Thus, while the lateral operculo‐insular system subserving sensory analysis of somatic stimuli remained active during paradoxical‐REM sleep, mid‐anterior cingulate processes related to orienting and avoidance behavior were suppressed. Dissociation between sensory and orienting‐motor networks might explain why nociceptive stimuli can be either neglected or incorporated into dreams without awakening the subject. Hum Brain Mapp, 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.