Figure 6. Altered Networks.

The figure shows a model of brain network changes as a consequence of a stimulus in a healthy subject (top) and the same networks in response to pain (bottom). Using tissue damage as an example of a pain stimulus (viz., surgery), there are alterations in sensory inputs (Primary Integrators) that produce changes in Secondary Integrators (these may initially be adaptive e.g., enhanced modulation of pain by higher cortical centers such as the anterior cingulate cortex (See Figure 1), but eventually become maladaptive through individual networks or across networks resulting in altered behavioral responses.