Background: Pain is a currently evolving area of research. Chronic Pain is a global health crisis affecting millions of people worldwide. Pain is a complex process that makes it difficult to treat and can affect people's quality of life. There has been a growing body of research investigating how the language used in association with pain can affect the pain experience. However, the intersection of the neural pathways of language and pain has not been thoroughly investigated. We aim to investigate whether the sensory experience of pain must interact with language regions of the brain to allow for verbal expression of pain. Therefore, we expect a difference in how individuals report pain depending on the location of the lesion, particularly in relation to language areas (dominant vs. non-dominant hemispheres).   

Objective: Understand the connectivity between pain area, Brodmann 25, with language areas including Posterior Parietal Cortex, Baso temporal language area (BTLA), and insula.  

Methods: Diffusion-weighted MRI data from the Human Connectome Project was used to analyze the connectivity strength and number of streamlines between Brodman 25 and language areas (PPC, BTLA, and insula). ROIs were obtained from the Harvard-Oxford atlas on FSL. Participants will be recruited into four groups for this study:  

1. Split-brain patients (n=TBD): Potential differences in thermal pain perception between the left and right sides of the body in the context of disrupted interhemispheric communication. 

2. Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) patients 

   1. Left-sided TN group (n=TBD): Participants with a clinical diagnosis of Trigeminal neuralgia affecting the left side of the face 

   2. Right-sided TN group (n= TBD): Participants with a clinical diagnosis of Trigeminal neuralgia affecting the right side of the face.  

   3. These groups will allow us to compare pain perception in relation to the side of chronic pain and its potential interaction with language lateralization.  

3. Control group (n=TBD): Age- and sex- matched healthy participants 

Procedure 

1. Thermal Pain Testing (for spit-brain and control group only): Thermal stimuli will be applied to symmetrical locations on both sides of the body.  

2. Pain Description Assessment (for TN patients only): TN patients will not undergo thermal pain testing but will be asked to describe the nature, intensity, and quality of their pain based on the side of their trigeminal neuralgia.  

3. Data analysis: The split-brain and control groups’ thermal data will be analyzed to compare pain perception between sides of the body and in relation to language dominance.  

Results: Data analysis pending

Conclusions: Understanding the connection between language and pain can help uncover new DBS targets for treatment of chronic pain.