Brain dysfunction in chronic pain patients assessed by resting-state electroencephalography

Ta Dinh, S. et al. (2019) Brain dysfunction in chronic pain patients assessed by resting-state electroencephalography. Pain, 160(12), pp. 2751-2765. (doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001666) (PMID:31356455) (PMCID:PMC7195856)

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Abstract

Chronic pain is a common and severely disabling disease whose treatment is often unsatisfactory. Insights into the brain mechanisms of chronic pain promise to advance the understanding of the underlying pathophysiology and might help to develop disease markers and novel treatments. Here, we systematically exploited the potential of electroencephalography to determine abnormalities of brain function during the resting state in chronic pain. To this end, we performed state-of-the-art analyses of oscillatory brain activity, brain connectivity, and brain networks in 101 patients of either sex suffering from chronic pain. The results show that global and local measures of brain activity did not differ between chronic pain patients and a healthy control group. However, we observed significantly increased connectivity at theta (4-8 Hz) and gamma (>60 Hz) frequencies in frontal brain areas as well as global network reorganization at gamma frequencies in chronic pain patients. Furthermore, a machine learning algorithm could differentiate between patients and healthy controls with an above-chance accuracy of 57%, mostly based on frontal connectivity. These results suggest that increased theta and gamma synchrony in frontal brain areas are involved in the pathophysiology of chronic pain. Although substantial challenges concerning the reproducibility of the findings and the accuracy, specificity, and validity of potential electroencephalography-based disease markers remain to be overcome, our study indicates that abnormal frontal synchrony at theta and gamma frequencies might be promising targets for noninvasive brain stimulation and/or neurofeedback approaches.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:The study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (PL 321/10-1, PL 321/11-1, PL 321/10-2, PL 321/11-2), the Bavarian State Ministry of Education, Science and the Arts, and the Wellcome Trust (098433).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Gross, Professor Joachim
Authors: Ta Dinh, S., Nickel, M. M., Tiemann, L., May, E. S., Heitmann, H., Hohn, V. D., Edenharter, G., Utpadel-Fischler, D., Tölle, T. R., Sauseng, P., Gross, J., and Ploner, M.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Journal Name:Pain
Publisher:Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
ISSN:0304-3959
ISSN (Online):1872-6623
Published Online:22 July 2019
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2019 International Association for the Study of Pain
First Published:First published in Pain 160(12):2751-2765
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
167204Natural and modulated neural communication: State-dependent decoding and driving of human Brain Oscillations.Joachim GrossWellcome Trust (WELLCOTR)098433/Z/12/ZNP - Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging (CCNi)