Journal of Neuroscience Methods 271 (2016) 160–168 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Neuroscience Methods jo ur nal home p age: www.elsevier.com/locate/jneumeth Demonstration and validation of a new pressure-based MRI-safe pain tolerance device Margaret T. Davis a,1 , Thomas A. Daniel a,1 , Tracy K. Witte a,∗∗ , Ronald J. Beyers b , J. Zachary Willis b , Yun Wang b , Thomas S. Denney Jr. a,b,c , Jeffrey S. Katz a,b,c , Nouha Salibi b,d , Gopikrishna Deshpande a,b,c,∗ a Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA b AU MRI Research Center, Department of Electrical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA c Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium, Auburn University and University of Alabama Birmingham, AL, USA d MR R&D Siemens Healthcare, Malvern, PA, USA h i g h l i g h t s • Creation of a novel, MRI-safe, pressure-based pain tolerance device. • Strong correlation between pain tolerance as assessed by MRI-safe device and as assessed by commercially available algometer (Experiment 1). • With additional pressure, increased activation in insula, anterior cingulate cortex (Experiment 2). • Activations found in Experiment 2 were comparable with activations found with other types of pain (e.g., thermal, mechanical). a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 9 February 2016 Received in revised form 29 June 2016 Accepted 1 July 2016 Available online 1 July 2016 Keywords: Pain Insula Anterior cingulate cortex MRI-safe pressure-based pain tolerance device Algometer a b s t r a c t Background: One of the barriers to studying the behavioral and emotional effects of pain using func- tional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is the absence of a commercially available, MRI-compatible, pressure-based algometer to elicit pain. The present study sought to address this barrier through creation and validation of a novel MRI-safe apparatus capable of delivering incremental, measurable amounts of pressure inside a scanning bore. New method: We introduced an MR-safe device used to administer pressure-based pain. To test against a commercially available, MRI-incompatible algometer (AlgoMed), 199 participants reported their pain tolerance for both devices. A second experiment tested the validity of pressure-based pain in an MRI environment by comparing brain activation with established neural networks for pain. 10 participants performed an identical procedure to test for pain tolerance while being scanned in a 7T MRI scanner. Results: Results support the validity and reliability of our novel device. In Study 1, pain tolerance with this device was strongly correlated with pain tolerance as measured by a commercially available algometer (r = 0.78). In Study 2, this device yielded BOLD activation within the insula (BA 13) and anterior cingulate gyrus (BA 24); as pressure increased, activation in these areas parametrically increased. Comparison with existing method: These findings correspond to other studies using thermal, electrical, or mechanical pain applications. Behavioral and functional data demonstrate that this new device is a valid method of administering pressure-related pain in MRI environments. Conclusions: Our novel MRI-safe device is a valid instrument to measure and administer pressure-based pain. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author (methodological issues) at: AU MRI Research Center, Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering, 560 Devall Dr., Suite 266D, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA. ∗∗ Corresponding author (scientific issues) at: Department of Psychology, 226 Thach Hall, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA. E-mail addresses: tracy.witte@auburn.edu (T.K. Witte), gopi@auburn.edu (G. Deshpande). 1 The first two authors contributed equally. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2016.07.001 0165-0270/© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.