Facial grimacing is used to quantify spontaneous pain in mice and other mammals, but scoring relies on humans with different levels of proficiency. Here, we developed a cloud-based software platform called PainFace ( http://painface.net ) that uses machine learning to detect 4 facial action units of the mouse grimace scale (orbitals, nose, ears, whiskers) and score facial grimaces of black-coated C57BL/6 male and female mice on a 0 to 8 scale. Platform accuracy was validated in 2 different laboratories, with 3 conditions that evoke grimacing-laparotomy surgery, bilateral hindpaw injection of carrageenan, and intraplantar injection of formalin. PainFace can generate up to 1 grimace score per second from a standard 30 frames/s video, making it possible to quantify facial grimacing over time, and operates at a speed that scales with computing power. By analyzing the frequency distribution of grimace scores, we found that mice spent 7x more time in a "high grimace" state following laparotomy surgery relative to sham surgery controls. Our study shows that PainFace reproducibly quantifies facial grimaces indicative of nonevoked spontaneous pain and enables laboratories to standardize and scale-up facial grimace analyses.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000003187 | DOI Listing |
Pain
December 2024
Program in Dental Biomedical Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is the most prevalent painful condition in the craniofacial area. Recent studies have suggested that external or intrinsic trauma to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is associated with the onset of painful TMD in patients. Here, we investigated the effects of TMJ trauma through forced-mouth opening (FMO) in mice to determine pain behaviors and peripheral sensitization of trigeminal nociceptors in both sexes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pain
December 2024
Laboratory of Neurobiology of Orofacial Sensations and Movements. FES Iztacala, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico. Electronic address:
The study of orofacial neuropathic pain necessitates the use of innovative assessment techniques, such as the facial expression of pain, which mirrors the internal state of the animals and could be utilized to identify the neural correlations involved. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) is a crucial center in the processing of sensory and affective components of acute and neuropathic pain. However, its role in the facial response to pain remains a mystery.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPain
February 2025
Department of Neuroscience, The Center for Advanced Pain Studies, The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, United States.
Human experimental studies have shown that levcromakalim, an ATP-sensitive potassium (K ATP ) channel opener, induces migraine attacks in people with migraine but not in healthy volunteers. However, the exact site of action for K ATP channels in migraine pathophysiology remains unclear. This study investigates the role of these channels in the meninges in eliciting behavioral hypersensitivity responses in mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Headache Pain
November 2024
Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA.
Background: Post-traumatic headache (PTH) is a common comorbid symptom affecting at least one-third of patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). While neuroinflammation is known to contribute to the development of PTH, the cellular mechanisms in the trigeminal system crucial for understanding the pathogenesis of PTH remain unclear.
Methods: A non-invasive repetitive mTBI (4 times with a 24-h interval) was induced in male mice and effect of mTBI was tested on either bregma or pre-bregma position on the head.
Int J Eat Disord
November 2024
Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
Objective: Genome-wide association studies implicate metabo-psychiatric origins for anorexia nervosa (AN). There are two case reports totaling six adult females who experienced complete remission of AN following a treatment comprised of ketogenic diet (targeting metabolism) with ketamine infusions (targeting psychiatric origins), but no study has determined the efficacy of ketogenic diet, alone. We addressed this gap in knowledge, with exploration of potential molecular mechanisms, using an animal model.
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