Slowing in Peak-Alpha Frequency Recorded After Experimentally-Induced Muscle Pain is not Significantly Different Between High and Low Pain-Sensitive Subjects

Evoked oscillatory cortical activity during acute pain: Probing brain in pain by transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalogram

“…Thus, local responses for M1 probing were assessed in the α-band on the middle centro-frontal cluster (Table 1), while for DLPFC stimulation, local responses were assessed in the β1-band and β2-band on the left/ middle/ right prefrontal clusters (Table 2). Remote effects of M1 probing were also assessed where α-band activity has its natural peak frequency (i.e., posterior-occipital regions [31,50] situated in left/middle/right parieto-occipital clusters – Table 1). Remote prefrontal cluster responses were assessed to control for the expected α-preponderant parietal-occipital cluster responses triggered by M1 probing, while remote responses in parietal-occipital areas were assessed after DLPFC perturbations to control for the expected frontal β-band responses.…”

“…In chronic pain patients, decreased high α-band and low β-band (10-20 Hz) were reported to occur, coupled with an increase in high β-band (20-30 Hz) [36], and related to pain symptoms in peripheral neuropathic pain [54]. While changes in the β-band tend to be confined to frontal cortical regions, changes in the α-band appeared to be more widespread but rather located in central and parietal-occipital cortical regions [19,31,36]. Slowing of the peak of the α rhythm over the sensorimotor cortex has also been suggested as a possible and reliable biomarker of pain sensitivity [20].…”

Evoked oscillatory cortical activity during acute pain: Probing brain in pain by transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalogram

“…Thus, local responses for M1 probing were assessed in the α-band on the middle centro-frontal cluster (Table 1), while for DLPFC stimulation, local responses were assessed in the β1-band and β2-band on the left/ middle/ right prefrontal clusters (Table 2). Remote effects of M1 probing were also assessed where α-band activity has its natural peak frequency [i.e., posterior-occipital regions (De Martino et al, 2021;Sarnthein et al, 2006) If frequency bands and clusters revealed significant differences between acute pain and its comparators in the broader 6-300 time interval, then differences in shorter time intervals were explored (i.e., 6-100, 100-200, and 200-300 ms) so that it would be possible to determine whether the significant changes occurred early, middle, or later relative to the probing TMS pulse. Importantly, reduced α power during acute experimental pain has been reported in resting state-EEG experiments (Chang et al, 2002(Chang et al, , 2003.…”

“…In chronic pain patients, decreased high α‐band and low β‐band (10–20 Hz) were reported to occur, coupled with an increase in high β‐band (20–30 Hz; Mussigmann et al, 2022 ), and related to pain symptoms in peripheral neuropathic pain (Teixeira et al, 2021 ). While changes in the β‐band tend to be confined to frontal cortical regions, changes in the α‐band appeared to be more widespread but rather located in central and parietal–occipital cortical regions (De Martino et al, 2021 ; Furman et al, 2018 ; Mussigmann et al, 2022 ). Slowing of the peak of the α rhythm over the sensorimotor cortex has also been suggested as a possible and reliable biomarker of pain sensitivity (Furman et al, 2020 ).…”

Mechanisms and manifestations in musculoskeletal pain: from experimental to clinical pain settings

“…68 Using a combined model of exercise-induced muscle pain and NGF-induced muscle pain, a slowing of the peak alpha frequency was demonstrated during the days with pain, but in contrast to Furman et al, 68 the subgroup with the highest perceived muscle pain intensity was associated with faster peak alpha frequency at baseline. 150 So far, the peak alpha frequency is still to be recorded in patients with musculoskeletal pain and further clarified as other studies have shown a positive 172 and negative 67 correlation between the tonic thermal-induced pain intensity and the peak alpha frequency before pain induction.…”