Abstract #2127

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Predicts the Amplitude of the BOLD Response to Thermal Pain Stimulation in Humans

Stephen D. Mayhew¹, Nicholas Hylands-White², Camillo Porcaro³, Andrew P. Bagshaw¹

¹Birmingham University Imaging Centre, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Mids, United Kingdom; ²Pain Management Group, Faculty of Health, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom; ³Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University,, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Here we define pain regions of interest (ROIs) from brain areas exhibiting a very significant BOLD response to thermal stimulation: ACC, SII and anterior insula. We compare the strength of functional connectivity between these ROIs during rest with the mean amplitude of the BOLD response in these ROIs during the stimulation runs. We observed that subjects who had greater resting connectivity between pain-responsive regions had a larger BOLD response to thermal pain stimulation. This work provides a novel demonstration that part of the inter-subject variability in evoked BOLD responses is explained by the intrinsic resting properties of the pain network.