# Neuroimaging the influence of anxiety on chronic orofacial pain

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2020 · $18,730

## Abstract

Project Summary
The goal of this proposal is to reveal key distinctions in the circuitry being affected in Burning Mouth Syndrome
(BMS) separate from anxiety. To solve this problem we will investigate the differences between high-anxiety
individuals and healthy controls before, and during pain exposure in the functional MRI scanner. Our lab previ-
ously compared BMS patients to healthy controls and found increased connectivity between the hypothalamus
and pain regions of the brain. However, it is imperical to run this test on healthy individuals with high and low
anxiety to distinguish if any of these changes are due to anxiety or truly to the BMS. By adding these compar-
isons to our preliminary project we will be able to understand true disease state changes due to BMS versus
anxiety. We hypothesize that high anxiety individuals will have higher connectivity between the hypothalamus,
amygdala, and regions associated with negative affect such as the amygdala and insula. We further hypothe-
size that BMS individuals will have higher functional connectivity between the hypothalamus and pain circuitry
regions—such as the cingulate cortex, the periaqueductal grey region, and thalamus—as seen in our prelimi-
nary study. This contribution is significant and innovative since it will answer whether BMS should solely be de-
fined as a chronic pain condition or a psychological condition. Completion of this proposal will aid in the cre-
ation of specialized treatments for chronic pain instead of treating anxiety alone. Lastly, this proposal outlines
the career development of an independent researcher, which includes the strengthening writing skills for sub-
mission of peer-reviewed publications, the frequent presentation of results at local, national, and international
conferences, and further training in neuroimgaging analysis.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10223895
- **Project number:** 5F31DE027622-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** Janell Saday Payano Sosa
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $18,730
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-04-17 → 2020-12-20

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10223895

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10223895, Neuroimaging the influence of anxiety on chronic orofacial pain (5F31DE027622-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-01 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10223895. Licensed CC0.

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