{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T07:05:10Z","timestamp":1784099110651,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1784073600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Pain Res."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Virtual reality (VR) has shown promise for pain relief, including in cancer-related contexts, yet its underlying neurophysiological correlates remain unclear. Understanding brain-based correlates is important for evaluating VR programs and informing personalized pain management. Functional connectivity reflects coordinated activity among pain-related brain regions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study examined associations between changes in functional connectivity and pain reduction during VR exposure using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in cancer patients with chronic neuropathic and\/or somatic pain. In an IRB-approved study, 41 cancer patients underwent a VR distraction session using the Oceania application on a Meta Quest\u00ae headset. Continuous fNIRS signals focused on oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO) were recorded. Pain intensity was assessed before and after VR using the FACES Pain Scale\u2013Revised. Functional connectivity was estimated using coherence analysis, and associations with pain reduction were evaluated using Pearson correlation with false discovery rate correction.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Extracted functional connectivity features showed significant negative correlations with pain reduction, particularly between channels spanning prefrontal cortex (PFC), bilateral parietal lobes [including the primary somatosensory cortex (S1)], and superior frontal gyrus (SFG). Strongest associations were observed between PFC and SFG (r\u2009=\u2009\u20130.43,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.005), and within SFG (r\u2009=\u2009\u20130.42,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.006). HbO activity at the PFC was significantly associated with pain reduction (r\u2009=\u2009\u20130.32,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2009=\u20090.044).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Decreased functional connectivity in specific cortical regions was observed in association with short-term pain reduction during VR exposure. Findings suggest that functional connectivity features may represent candidate neurophysiological correlates of pain changes in immersive VR contexts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpain.2026.1730496","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]],"date-time":"2026-07-15T06:09:25Z","timestamp":1784095765000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Functional brain connectivity correlates of pain relief during virtual reality exposure in cancer patients"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Somayeh B.","family":"Shafiei","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Intelligent Cancer Care Laboratory, Department of Urology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center","place":["Buffalo, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Saeed","family":"Shadpour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph","place":["Guelph, ON, Canada"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oscar","family":"de Leon-Casasola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Pain Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center","place":["Buffalo, NY, United States"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"774","DOI":"10.1186\/s12885-023-11214-5","article-title":"Pain and its interference with daily living in relation to cancer: a comparative population-based study of 16,053 cancer survivors and 106,345 people without cancer","volume":"23","author":"Joshy","year":"2023","journal-title":"BMC Cancer"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6838","DOI":"10.3390\/curroncol30070500","article-title":"Cancer pain management: a narrative review of current concepts, strategies, and techniques","volume":"30","author":"Mestdagh","year":"2023","journal-title":"Current Oncology"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"183","DOI":"10.1007\/s12160-010-9248-7","article-title":"Virtual reality as an adjunctive non-pharmacologic analgesic for acute burn pain during medical procedures","volume":"41","author":"Hoffman","year":"2011","journal-title":"Ann Behav Med"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"8954","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-025-93678-y","article-title":"Pain classification using functional near infrared spectroscopy and assessment of virtual reality effects in cancer pain management","volume":"15","author":"Shafiei","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sci Rep"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"64","DOI":"10.1186\/s12916-024-03266-6","article-title":"Efficacy of virtual reality for pain relief in medical procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"22","author":"Teh","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Med"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e6368","DOI":"10.1002\/pon.6368","article-title":"Virtual reality for advanced cancer patients assisted at home: a randomized controlled interventional study","volume":"33","author":"Giannelli","year":"2024","journal-title":"Psychooncology"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"502","DOI":"10.1038\/nrn3516","article-title":"Cognitive and emotional control of pain and its disruption in chronic pain","volume":"14","author":"Bushnell","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nat Rev Neurosci"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"86","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tins.2014.11.006","article-title":"The dynamic pain connectome","volume":"38","author":"Kucyi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Trends Neurosci"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"120","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cortex.2017.01.010","article-title":"Attention to pain! 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