Experimental pain in the gingiva and its impact on prefrontal cortical hemodynamics: A functional near-infrared spectroscopy study

• Prefrontal cortex activity was measured after pain stimulation to the gingiva.
• Mild pain was induced to the tissue around the right maxillary central incisor.
• Oxy-Hb in the contralateral prefrontal cortex was reduced upon pain stimulation.
• Oxy-Hb decreased in the superior, middle, and orbital part of frontal gyrus.

Evaluating alterations in brain activity in response to pain stimulus can help understand the mechanisms underlying pain perception. We measured oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-Hb) levels using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in order to assess prefrontal cortex activation after inducing a pain stimulus to the gingiva. Twenty-three right-handed, healthy male subjects (mean age: 29.3 ± 3.6 years) were subjected to a mild pain stimulus to the tissue around the right maxillary central incisor. The periodontal pain stimulus (PPS) was elicited from a pocket probe, and a multi-channel fNIRS system with its accompanying 22-channel probes was used for measuring oxy-Hb levels. Mean oxy-Hb levels for each channel were calculated on the basis of values obtained at rest and during the PPS load, for 1 min each. The change in oxy-Hb level was calculated by subtracting oxy-Hb at rest from oxy-Hb levels during PPS load. Oxy-Hb levels in each channel during both conditions were then compared using the paired t-test and Bonferroni correction. Pain stimulation caused oxy-Hb levels to decrease in virtually all areas of the prefrontal cortex, particularly, in the superior frontal gyrus, the middle frontal gyrus, and the orbital part of the superior, middle, and inferior frontal gyrus, on the brain side contralateral to the pain load. This measurement could prove beneficial as an index for objective pain evaluation.