The contribution of functional imaging techniques to our understanding of rheumatic pain

Some of the recent advances in functional brain imaging that allow us to view molecular events within the brain are reviewed in this article. The focus is on positron emission tomography, but some of the important results using other techniques such as single photon emission tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, surface electrophysiology (EEG and pain-evoked potentials), and magnetoencephalography are mentioned where appropriate. The contributions these techniques have made to providing a much more detailed understanding of how the brain processes information about actual and possible noxious stimuli is described. All of the imaging techniques are not reviewed, but a brief outline of what they measure is included.