Poster No:
2059
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Weiwei Peng1, Qianqian Zheng1
Institutions:
1Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, --- Select One ---
First Author:
Weiwei Peng
Shenzhen University
Shenzhen, --- Select One ---
Co-Author:
Introduction:
Pain significantly affects quality of life and causes psychological and physical distress, making pain relief a major public health priority. While traditional pain relief relies on drugs with potential side effects and risks of addiction, the development of non-pharmacological methods may offer safer alternatives. Neurofeedback, a promising method, trains individuals to regulate brain activity through real-time feedback, offering a home-based, accessible and cost-effective treatment. Previous studies have linked higher somatosensory α-oscillations to lower pain sensitivity, suggesting the potential to enhance these oscillations for pain relief via neurofeedback.
Methods:
Using a double-blinded, sham-controlled protocol, 81 healthy participants were recruited. Participants received capsaicin cream on the forearm of either hand and rested in the laboratory for 20 minutes. They underwent real or sham neurofeedback training to regulate α-oscillation amplitude over the somatosensory cortex contralateral to the pain site. Before the neurofeedback session, a 3-minute-long resting-state EEG was recorded to determine the threshold for real-time feedback. The training session consisted of 6 blocks lasting 2 minutes each. Participants reported pain intensity and unpleasantness before and after neurofeedback training. We compared the effects of neurofeedback on persistent pain.
Results:
We found that the efficacy of self-regulating α-oscillations, quantified as the slope of the linear regression for somatosensory α-oscillation power lateralization across the 6 training blocks, was significantly higher in the real group compared to the sham group. Furthermore, the average peak alpha frequency during the neurofeedback phase was higher in the real group than in the sham group. Further, while ratings decreased after neurofeedback application in both groups, the decrease was greater in the real group compared to the sham group. These findings suggest that neurofeedback effectively enhances α-oscillations in the targeted somatosensory cortex and significantly reduces persistent pain perception. To determine the underlying mechanisms, we performed microstate analysis to see how modulating local α-oscillations via neurofeedback affects global brain functions. We observed that Compared with the sham group, microstate D had a shorter mean duration, less frequent occurrence and shorter time coverage, while microstate C had more frequent occurrence and longer time coverage during real neurofeedback training. Mediation analysis further revealed that neurofeedback enhances peak alpha frequency during persistent pain partly by affecting the balance of microstates C and D. The results suggest that neurofeedback alleviates persistent pain by rebalancing microstates C and D (salience and attention networks).
Conclusions:
Enhancing somatosensory α-oscillations through neurofeedback is a promising non-pharmacological method for pain relief due to its modulation of global brain functions. Our results also highlight the potential of neurofeedback for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders involving abnormal brain oscillations and microstates.
Brain Stimulation:
Non-Invasive Stimulation Methods Other
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
EEG 2
Perception, Attention and Motor Behavior:
Perception: Pain and Visceral 1
Keywords:
Electroencephaolography (EEG)
Pain
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Please indicate below if your study was a "resting state" or "task-activation” study.
Task-activation
Healthy subjects only or patients (note that patient studies may also involve healthy subjects):
Healthy subjects
Was this research conducted in the United States?
No
Were any human subjects research approved by the relevant Institutional Review Board or ethics panel?
NOTE: Any human subjects studies without IRB approval will be automatically rejected.
Yes
Were any animal research approved by the relevant IACUC or other animal research panel?
NOTE: Any animal studies without IACUC approval will be automatically rejected.
Not applicable
Please indicate which methods were used in your research:
EEG/ERP
Provide references using APA citation style.
1. Babiloni, C., Brancucci, A., Percio, C. D., Capotosto, P., Arendt-Nielsen, L., Chen, A. C. N., & Rossini, P. M. (2006). Anticipatory Electroencephalography Alpha Rhythm Predicts Subjective Perception of Pain Intensity. The Journal of Pain, 7(10), 709-717.
2. Marzbani, H., Marateb, H. R., & Mansourian, M. (2016). Neurofeedback: A Comprehensive Review on System Design, Methodology and Clinical Applications. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, 7(2), 143-158.
3. Nir, R.-R., Sinai, A., Moont, R., Harari, E., & Yarnitsky, D. (2012). Tonic pain and continuous EEG: Prediction of subjective pain perception by alpha-1 power during stimulation and at rest. Clinical Neurophysiology, 123(3), 605-612.
4. Sitaram, R., Ros, T., Stoeckel, L., Haller, S., Scharnowski, F., Lewis-Peacock, J., . . . Sulzer, J. (2017). Closed-loop brain training: the science of neurofeedback. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 18(2), 86-100.
5. Tu, Y., Zhang, Z., Tan, A., Peng, W., Hung, Y. S., Moayedi, M., . . . Hu, L. (2016). Alpha and gamma oscillation amplitudes synergistically predict the perception of forthcoming nociceptive stimuli. Human Brain Mapping, 37(2), 501-514.
No