Altered Behavioral and Autonomic Pain Responses in Alzheimer's Disease Are Associated with Dysfunctional Affective, Self-Reflective and Salience Network Resting-State Connectivity.

ABSTRACT: While pain behaviors are increased in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients compared to healthy seniors (HS) across multiple disease stages, autonomic responses are reduced with advancing AD. To better understand the neural mechanisms underlying these phenomena, we undertook a controlled cross-sectional study examining behavioral (Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia, PAINAD scores) and autonomic (heart rate, HR) pain responses in 24 HS and 20 AD subjects using acute pressure stimuli. Resting-state fMRI was utilized to investigate how group connectivity differences were related to altered pain responses. Pain behaviors (slope of PAINAD score change and mean PAINAD score) were increased in patients vs.

Controls

Autonomic measures (HR change intercept and mean HR change) were reduced in s

SUBMITTER: Beach PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5603705 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature