title: Contact Heat Evoked Potentials (CHEPs) in Patients with Mild-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease and Matched Control--A Pilot Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Clinical studies have found that patients with Alzheimer's disease report pain of less intensity and with a lower affective response, which has been thought to be due to altered pain processing. The authors wished to examine the cerebral processing of non-painful and painful stimuli using somatosensory evoked potentials and contact heat evoked potentials in patients with Alzheimer's disease and in healthy elderly controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty outpatients with mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease and in 17 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were included
  
  
  METHODS
  Contact heat evoked potentials and somatosensory evoked potentials were recorded in all subjects. Furthermore, warmth detection threshold and heat pain threshold were assessed. Patients and controls also rated quality and intensity of the stimuli.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The authors found no difference on contact heat evoked potential amplitude (P = 0.59) or latency of N2 or P2 wave (P = 0.62 and P = 0.75, respectively) between patients and controls. In addition, there was no difference in regard to pain intensity scores or pain quality. The patients and controls had similar warmth detection threshold and heat pain threshold. Somatosensory evoked potentials, amplitude, and latency were within normal range and similar for the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that the processing of non-painful and painful stimuli is preserved in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.
authors.affiliation: *Danish Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; christina.jensen-dahm@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jensen-Dahm
authors.affiliation: Danish Pain Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark;
authors.forename: Caspar Skau
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Madsen
authors.affiliation: *Danish Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark;
authors.forename: Gunhild
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Waldemar
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark;
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ballegaard
authors.affiliation: *Danish Dementia Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen, Denmark;
authors.forename: Anne-Mette
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hejl
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Birger
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Johnsen
authors.affiliation: Danish Pain Research Centre, Department of Neurology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark;
authors.forename: Troels Staehelin
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects
keywords: Alzheimer’s Disease (AD); Contact Heat Evoked Potential (CHEP); Dementia; Pain; Somatosensory Evoked Potential (SSEP)