Processing of pain- and body-related verbal material in chronic pain patients: central and peripheral correlates

Abstract

The processing of pain-related, body-related and neutral words was assessed in chronic pain patients and matched healthy controls. During and after word presentation at perception threshold, electromyographic activity (EMG), heart rate, skin conductance level and electroencephalographic (EEG) data from 11 electrode sites were recorded. Startle responses were measured to suprathreshold word stimuli. Although the patients did not recognize more pain-related words, they produced an enhanced left-hemispheric N100 and N200 to pain-related as compared to neutral words. In addition, the patients did not show a distinct P300 but a continuous positive shift to all words extending into the 800-ms range. Skin conductance levels to the pain-related words were also enhanced in patients only. These data partially support the notion of pain-related implicit memory structures in the brain of chronic pain patients that may selectively draw attention to pain-related stimuli and may thus enhance pain perception.

Impact of Chronic Somatoform and Osteoarthritis Pain on Conscious and Preconscious Cognitive Processing

“…A higher rate of pain-related or healthrelated interpretations of ambiguous stimuli is interpreted as falling back on the internal predominant accessible cognitive schema of pain or health. Previous studies support the hypothesis that CP-patients tend to generate specific responses to pain-or health-related stimuli (13,31).…”

Is a positive clinical outcome after exercise therapy for chronic non-specific low back pain contingent upon a corresponding improvement in the targeted aspect(s) of performance? A systematic review

“…One suggests that the treatment effects of many cLBP therapies may be attributable to changes within the brain of cLBP patients rather than specific changes in the musculoskeletal system [4,5]. Evidence supporting the involvement of cortical reorganisation in cLBP [6] comes from the finding of central nervous system changes [7][8][9][10][11] proportional to the severity and duration of the cLBP [4,11,12] and alterations (grey matter density loss) [13] in the brain of cLBP patients [4,12,14].…”

Chronic pain and electrodermal activity

“…Flor et al mentionnent un enregistrement lors d'un bref repos initial (deux minutes) dans divers protocoles. Une absence d'effet significatif concernant les NED est systématiquement rapportée ; ces expé-riences ont été réalisées chez des patients avec douleur des membres fantômes [27], des lombalgiques au stade préchronique [24] et des lombalgiques chroniques [18]. Toujours à propos des NED, aucune différence significative n'apparaît entre fibromyalgiques et témoins lors d'une période brève prolongeant un repos initial de 30 minutes [36].…”