Electrophysiological correlates of reduced pain perception after theta-burst stimulation.
In an earlier study, we reported the antinociceptive effects of a special repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation paradigm: continuous theta-burst stimulation (cTBS), when applied to human motor cortex. Here, we investigated whether the reduced subjective pain perception of 10 healthy individuals could be measured by changes in laser-evoked potentials, a reflection of pain related activations in the operculoinsular and midcingulate cortex. To minimize the effect of habituation during repeated laser stimulation, a bioadaptive design was used. However, both pain ratings and laser-evoked potential amplitudes were reduced after real and sham cTBS. When compared with sham stimulation, cTBS resulted in a significantly greater diminution of pain ratings and N2-P2 amplitudes on the hand contralateral to the site of motor cortex stimulation.
Csifcsak
Gabor
G
Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany.
Nitsche
Michael A
MA
Baumgärtner
Ulf
U
Paulus
Walter
W
Treede
Rolf-Detlef
RD
Antal
Andrea
A
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D011601:Psychophysics; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult