title: Effects of left primary motor and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex transcranial direct current stimulation on laser-evoked potentials in migraine patients and normal subjects.
abstract: Migraine is characterized by an altered cortical excitability. Because transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can change brain activity noninvasively, it is possible to hypothesize its efficacy in modulating pain in migraine. In this study, we compared the effects of tDCS of the left primary motor cortex (M1) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) both on subjective pain and on evoked responses induced by laser stimulation (LEPs). Thirty-two patients and sixteen controls were randomized to receive sham stimulation and real tDCS with the anode centered over M1 or DLPFC. Laser Evoked potentials were recorded in basal, sham and tDCS conditions. We did not find significant acute changes in LEPs parameters and pain perception among subjects who received tDCS of both M1 and DLPFC. After DLPFC tDCS, we observed a significant increase of N2-P2 component habituation in migraine patients while M1 stimulation reduced it. These findings may suggest a modulation of abnormal pain processing induced by DLPFC and M1 anodal tDCS and outline the need for future investigations exploring the possible neuronal plasticity changes supporting the clinical effect on migraine.
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiopathology of Pain Unit, SMBNOS Department, Bari Aldo Moro University, Giovanni XXIII Building-Polyclinic General Hospital, Via Amendola 207 A -70123 Bari, Italy. Electronic address: eleonora.vecchio@uniba.it.
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vecchio
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiopathology of Pain Unit, SMBNOS Department, Bari Aldo Moro University, Giovanni XXIII Building-Polyclinic General Hospital, Via Amendola 207 A -70123 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiopathology of Pain Unit, SMBNOS Department, Bari Aldo Moro University, Giovanni XXIII Building-Polyclinic General Hospital, Via Amendola 207 A -70123 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montemurno
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiopathology of Pain Unit, SMBNOS Department, Bari Aldo Moro University, Giovanni XXIII Building-Polyclinic General Hospital, Via Amendola 207 A -70123 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Delussi
authors.affiliation: DISTEBA Department, Salento University, Piazza Tancredi 7, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Invitto
authors.affiliation: Neurophysiopathology of Pain Unit, SMBNOS Department, Bari Aldo Moro University, Giovanni XXIII Building-Polyclinic General Hospital, Via Amendola 207 A -70123 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Tommaso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006225:Hand; D006801:Humans; D066331:Laser-Evoked Potentials; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D020326:Migraine without Aura / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D058748:Pain Perception / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D065908:Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
keywords: Habituation; Laser evoked potentials; Migraine; tDCS