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The following is a summary of “Neural correlates of pain acceptance and the role of the cerebellum: Functional connectivity and anatomical differences in individuals with headaches versus matched controls,” published in the October 2024 issue of Pain by Vasiliou et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to analyze the functional connectivity, neural correlates and anatomical differences in coping mechanisms in individuals with headaches.  

They examined inter-individual variability in whole-brain functional connectivity and anatomical differences in 37 individuals with primary headaches and 24 controls. Participants (84% women, M headache severity = 4/10, M age = 43 years) underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans and completed questionnaires, global and subnetwork brain areas and their relations with psychological flexibility (PF) components, controlling for age, gender, education, and head-motion were also assessed.   

The results showed atypical functional connectivity in regions involved in the pain matrix and core resting-state networks. Pain acceptance was the only PF component correlated with the cerebellum (x, y, z: 28, -72, -34, P-false discovery rate < 0.001). Individuals with headaches had higher grey matter density in the cerebellum than in controls.  

They concluded the cerebellum plays a vital role in pain acceptance, suggesting it could be a target for modulating headache perceptions and brain network abnormalities. 

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ejp.4734