Abstract
Study Design:
Brain wave activity in people with paraplegia, with and without neuropathic pain, was compared to brain wave activity in matched able-bodied controls.
Objectives:
To investigate whether spinal cord injury with neuropathic pain is associated with a slowing of brain wave activity.
Setting:
Australia.
Methods:
Electroencephalographic (EEG) data were collected in the eyes open (EO) and eyes closed (EC) states from 16 participants with paraplegia (eight with neuropathic pain and eight without pain) and matched able-bodied controls. Common EEG artefacts were removed using independent component analysis (ICA). Peak frequency in the θ–α band and EEG power in the δ, θ, α and β frequency bands were compared between groups.
Results:
The results show significant slowing of the EEG in people with neuropathic pain, consistent with the presence of thalamocortical dysrhythmia (TCD). Furthermore, people with neuropathic spinal cord injury (SCI) pain had significantly reduced EEG spectral reactivity in response to increased or decreased sensory input flowing into the thalamocortical network, as modulated by the eyes open and eyes closed states.
Conclusion:
The results provide further evidence for alterations in brain electric activity that may underlie the development of neuropathic pain following SCI.
Similar content being viewed by others
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
References
Siddall PJ, McClelland JM, Rutkowski SB, Cousins MJ . A longitudinal study of the prevalence and characteristics of pain in the first 5 years following spinal cord injury. Pain 2003; 103: 249–257.
Finnerup NB, Johannesen I, Sindrup S . Pharmacological treatment of spinal cord injury pain. In: Yezierski R, Burchiel K (eds). Spinal Cord Injury Pain: Assessment, Mechanisms, Management. IASP Press: Seattle, 2002, 341–351.
Drew GM, Siddall PJ, Duggan AW . Responses of spinal neurones to cutaneous and dorsal root stimuli in rats with mechanical allodynia after contusive spinal cord injury. Brain Res 2001; 893: 59–69.
Gerke MB, Duggan AW, Xu L, Siddall PJ . Thalamic neuronal activity in rats with mechanical allodynia following contusive spinal cord injury. Neuroscience 2003; 117: 715–722.
Lenz FA, Kwan HC, Martin R, Tasker R, Richardson RT, Dostrovsky JO . Characteristics of somatotopic organization and spontaneous neuronal activity in the region of the thalamic principal sensory nucleus in patients with spinal cord transection. J Neurophysiol 1994; 72: 1570–1587.
Jeanmonod D, Magnin M, Morel A . Low-threshold calcium spike bursts in the human thalamus. Common physiopathology for sensory, motor and limbic positive symptoms. Brain 1996; 119 (Part 2): 363–375.
Llinás RR, Ribary U, Jeanmonond D, Kronberg E, Mitra PP . Thalamocortical dysrhythmia: a neurological and neuropsychiatric syndrome characterized by magnetoencephalography. ProcNatl Acad Sci USA 1999; 96: 15222–15227.
Sarnthein J, Morel A, von Stein A, Jeanmonond D . Thalamic theta field potentials and EEG: high thalamocortical coherence in patients with neurogenic pain, epilepsy and movement disorders. Thalamus Relat Syst 2003; 2: 231–238.
Stern J, Jeanmonod D, Sarnthein J . Persistent EEG overactivation in the cortical pain matrix of neurogenic pain patients. Neuroimage 2006; 31: 721–731.
Sarnthein J, Stern J, Aufenberg C, Rousson V, Jeanmonod D . Increased EEG power and slowed dominant frequency in patients with neurogenic pain. Brain 2006; 129: 55–64.
Tran Y, Boord P, Middleton J, Craig A . Levels of brain wave activity (8–13 Hz) in persons with spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 2003; 42: 73–79.
Klem GH, Luders HO, Jasper HH, Elger C . The ten-twenty electrode system of the International Federation. The International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl 1999; 52: 3–6.
Nuwer MR, Lehmann D, da Silva FL, Matsuoka S, Sutherling W, Vibert JF . IFCN guidelines for topographic and frequency analysis of EEGs and Eps. The International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol Suppl 1999; 52: 15–20.
Jung TP, Makeig S, Humphries C, Lee TW, McKeown MJ, Iragui V et al. Removing electroencephalographic artifacts by blind source separation. Psychophysiology 2000; 37: 163–178.
Tran Y, Craig A, Boord P, Craig D . Using independent component analysis to remove artifact from electroencephalographic measured during stuttered speech. Med Biol Eng Comput 2004; 42: 627–633.
Niedermeyer E . The normal EEG of the waking adult. In: Niedermeyer E, Lopes da Silva FH (eds). Electroencephalography: Basic Principles, Clinical Applications, and Related Fields. Williams & Wilkins: Baltimore, 1999, pp 149–173.
Radhakrishnan V, Tsoukatos J, Davis KD, Tasker RR, Lozano AM, Dostrovsky JO . A comparison of the burst activity of lateral thalamic neurons in chronic pain and non-pain patients. Pain 1999; 80: 567–575.
Varela F, Lachaux JP, Rodriguez E, Martinerie J . The brainweb: phase synchronization and large-scale integration. Nat Rev Neurosci 2001; 2: 229–239.
Llinas R, Ribary U, Contreras D, Pedroarena C . The neuronal basis for consciousness. Philos Trans R Soc London B 1998; 353: 1841–1849.
Rowe DL, Robinson PA, Rennie CJ . Estimation of neurophysiological parameters from the waking EEG using a biophysical model of brain dynamics. J Theor Biol 2004; 231: 413–433.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Boord, P., Siddall, P., Tran, Y. et al. Electroencephalographic slowing and reduced reactivity in neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury. Spinal Cord 46, 118–123 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3102077
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.sc.3102077
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Central neuropathic pain
Nature Reviews Disease Primers (2023)
-
Increased Delta and Theta Power Density in Sickle Cell Disease Individuals with Chronic Pain Secondary to Hip Osteonecrosis: A Resting-State Eeg Study
Brain Topography (2023)
-
A neuro-cardiac self-regulation therapy to improve autonomic and neural function after SCI: a randomized controlled trial protocol
BMC Neurology (2021)
-
Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation followed by exercise on neuropathic pain in chronic spinal cord injury: a double-blinded randomized controlled pilot trial
Spinal Cord (2021)
-
Immediate effect of neurofeedback training on the pain matrix and cortical areas involved in processing neuropsychological functions
Neurological Sciences (2021)
