Table 2.
Brain regions significantly activated during rectal pain compared with baseline (z score>3, Bonferroni corrected, two tailed)
| Controls | IBS-C | IBS-D | |
| Cingulate anterior | +Bilateral* | ||
| Cingulate posterior | +Bilateral | +Left | |
| Prefrontal cortex inferior | +Bilateral† | +Left‡ | |
| Prefrontal cortex superior | +Bilateral† | ||
| Insula anterior | +Bilateral | +Right | +Bilateral |
| Insula posterior | +Bilateral | ||
| Thalamus lateral | +Bilateral | +Right | |
| Thalamus medial | +Bilateral | +Bilateral | |
| Thalamus anterior | +Right | ||
| S1 | +Bilateral | +Left | |
| SII | +Bilateral | +Bilateral | +Right |
| Orbitofrontal | −Right | −Bilateral | −Left |
| Amygdala/hippocampus | −Bilateral§ |
IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; IBS-C, IBS with constipation; IBS-D, IBS with diarrhoea.
+, Significant activation; −, significant deactivation; Bilateral, bilateral symmetrical activation changes; Right or Left, respective asymmetrical activation changes.
*Increased versus IBS-C and IBS-D; †increased versus IBS-D; ‡increased versus IBS-D; §decreased in IBS-C and IBS-D versus healthy controls.