Altered Brainstem Pain Modulating Circuitry Functional Connectivity in Chronic Painful Temporomandibular Disorder

•Brainstem pain-modulation circuitry is critical for chronic pain maintenance.•Chronic orofacial pain has greater rostral ventromedial medulla-subnucleus reticularis dorsalis-spinal trigeminal nucleus static and dynamic connectivity.•Differences may underlie enhanced descending pain-facilitating actions on spinal trigeminal nucleus.