Expectancy of pain is influenced by motor preparation: a high-resolution EEG study of cortical alpha rhythms.
This high-resolution electroencephalographic (EEG) study on alpha event-related desynchronization (ERD) evaluated whether anticipatory activity precedes a sensorimotor interaction induced by concomitant painful stimuli and sensorimotor demand. An omitted-stimulus paradigm induced the expectancy of the painful stimulation at the left hand. In the experimental condition, the painful stimulation was associated with a visual go/no-go task triggering right-hand movements. Two control conditions manipulated the painful sensorimotor interaction variable. Compared with the control conditions, the expectancy of the painful sensorimotor interaction increased the high-band alpha EEG oscillations over the right primary sensorimotor cortex contralateral to the nociceptive stimuli and, to a lesser extent, over the centroparietal midline. These findings suggest that concomitant painful stimuli and simple sensorimotor go/no-go demands affect anticipatory activity as revealed by alpha ERD.
Babiloni
Claudio
C
Dipartimento di Fisiologia Umana e Farmacologia, Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Rome, Italy. claudio.babiloni@uniroma1.it
Brancucci
Alfredo
A
Capotosto
Paolo
P
Arendt-Nielsen
Lars
L
Chen
Andrew C N
AC
Rossini
Paolo Maria
PM
D000328:Adult; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D003071:Cognition; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis