TMS-evoked Potentials During Heat Pain

Pain Clinical Trial

— TMS-EEG-heat  

Official title:

Effects of Heat-evoked Experimental Pain on Brain Connectivity

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05566444
• Other study ID #: N-20220018
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 1, 2022
• Est. completion date: January 24, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: January 2023
• Source: Aalborg University
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study investigates the modification of the local-to-global connectivity pattern in response to experimental heat pain. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be applied to elicit electroencephalography (EEG) responses in healthy volunteers. The TMS-evoked potentials (TEPs) will be recorded and serve as a reflection of cortical reactivity to TMS. A thermal cutaneous heat stimulus will induce painful sensations.

Description:

Abnormal connectivity patterns interfere with the normal function of a given neuronal network, thus leading to circuit dysfunction and, subsequently, chronic pain. In the last few years, neuroscience has been heavily influenced by network science. This synergistic association provided a new framework for understanding brain function in health and how dysfunction in specific neuronal brain circuits can lead to symptoms. A network comprises nodes (e.g., areas of the brain) and edges (functional connections between nodes). An effective network can process and share large amounts of information while maintaining specificity and not allowing noise to contaminate the flow of information across the circuits. The network approach to brain functioning has been able to integrate what has been known for several decades as spatial structural anatomy with the time-varying streaming of information (connectivity) in a dynamic perspective. In this context, symptoms of diseases are seen as being correlated with specific network abnormalities, and therapeutic interventions as being associated with the normalisation of these abnormal patterns of connection. This study will investigate the responses of specific neuronal brain circuits to experimental heat pain in healthy volunteers. It has been hypothesised that the local-to-global connectivity pattern obtained by the stimulation of different cortical hubs (e.g., the primary motor and dorsolateral prefrontal cortices) will be described by TMS-EEG responses in healthy individuals, and the modification in cortical connectivity in experimental models will be described and compared it with a non-painful sensory stimulation of the same salience.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 24
• Est. completion date: January 24, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 60 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy men and women
• Speak and understand English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Drug addiction defined as the use of cannabis, opioids or other drugs
• Previous neurologic, musculoskeletal or mental illnesses
• Lack of ability to cooperate
• History of chronic pain or current acute pain
• Contraindications to rTMS application (history of epilepsy, metal in the head or jaw etc.).
• Failure to pass the "TASS questionnaire" (TASS = Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Adult Safety Screen)

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Electroencephalography
• Heat
• Pain
• Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Intervention

Device:
• Heat stimulus
Contact heat pain stimulus with a termode set at 46 degrees and contact warm stimulus with a termode set at 40 degrees

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Denmark	Enrico De Martino	Aalborg

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Aalborg University

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Denmark, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Cortical connectivity	Global and local mean field amplitude	Reduced cortical connectivity (more local) during heat pain. Changes will be investigated before and after heat pain (1 hour)
Secondary	Cortical excitability	TMS-evoked potentials	Reduced cortical excitability during heat pain. Changes will be investigated before and after heat pain (1 hour)