{
  "abstract": "Voluntary cognitive regulation can increase or decrease pain, but direction-sensitive neural correlates may emerge at different analytical levels. We reanalyzed 3,201 thermal-stimulation trials from 33 participants, integrating 0-200 warmth/pain ratings, regional fMRI activity, and trial-wise lagged coupling. Both instructions shifted ratings in the intended direction, with no reliable difference in mean success. Down-regulation was associated with lower bilateral S2/opercular and insular activity and higher left dlPFC/IFJ activity after FDR correction across 32 regions; run-matched comparisons were weaker and none survived the corresponding correction. Contrast-map Neurologic Pain Signature attenuation did not replicate in a rating-adjusted FWL-LSS trial-wise analysis despite strong temperature sensitivity. Up-regulation success covaried with an exploratory, post selection lagged dlPFC/IFJ-valuation composite (r = -0.546, 95% CI [-0.764, -0.270]). The association exceeded matched reverse-direction, zero-lag, and time-reversed controls, lay outside permutation and circular-shift nulls, and persisted after AR(1) prewhitening. A transition-level analysis across 297 up-regulation transitions preserved a negative success-by-source interaction (adjusted three-target mean beta = -0.163, cluster-bootstrap 95% CI [-0.290, -0.054], Freedman-Lane p = 0.010). Six session-wise DCM variants showed no consistent regulation-versus-passive effective-connectivity effect and did not independently validate an up-specific directed mechanism. These analyses identify a down-regulation-associated regional pattern and a candidate prefrontal-valuation coupling association requiring independent confirmation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "M. Kharghani"
    },
    {
      "name": "E. Gholami"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/32cbwykypjnb3.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.10.01.756083",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.01.756083v1.full",
  "id": "32cbwykypjnb3",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.01.756083v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Pain Management and Placebo Effect"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7220938877",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.01.756083v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-01",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/32cbwykypjnb3.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:26:40Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.10.01.756083",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.01.756083v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Direction-sensitive neural correlates of voluntary pain regulation: regional response attenuation during down-regulation and exploratory prefrontal-valuation coupling",
  "title_text": "Direction-sensitive neural correlates of voluntary pain regulation: regional response attenuation during down-regulation and exploratory prefrontal-valuation coupling",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:26:40Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/32cbwykypjnb3",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}