Healthy Volunteers
Conditions
Brief summary
The Neuromatrix pain model and new findings on pain chronification process point to a greater efficacy of treatments that address central and peripheral rather than only peripheral structures. Both cerebral and peripheral electrical stimulations can modulate brain areas involved in pain processing. However, their effects on pain modulation systems and clinical outcomes are lacking. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and peripheral electrical stimulation (PES) alone as well tDCS combined with PES on pressure pain threshold and conditioned pain modulation in healthy subjects.
Interventions
PROCEDURETranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technique that has been investigated for the management of various chronic pain conditions. However, as a monotherapy for pain relief, this therapy still has controversial results.
PROCEDUREPeripheral electrical stimulation (PES)
Peripheral electrical stimulation (PES) activates a complex neural network involving a series of neurotransmitters and receptors capable of promoting segmental and extrasegmental analgesia.
PROCEDURESham tDCS
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a noninvasive brain stimulation (NIBS) technique that has been investigated for the management of various chronic pain conditions. However, as a monotherapy for pain relief, this therapy still has controversial results.
Sponsors
Universidade Federal do Piauí
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Healthy subjects without medical complaints.
Exclusion criteria
Concurrent medication likely to affect cognitive performance pregnancy or possible pregnancy history of drug or alcohol abuse or dependence recent head injury (in the last 3 months) history of seizure or stroke.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pressure pain threshold | Pre and Post-test (immediately after tDCS) | Pressure pain threshold (PPT) is defined as the minimum force applied which induces pain. |
| Conditioned pain modulation | Pre and Post-test (immediately after tDCS) | Conditioned pain modulation paradigms consist of the evaluation of a painful test stimulus followed by a second evaluation either at the same time as a distant, painful conditioning stimulus. PPT will be evaluated following a conditioning stimulus condition (hand immersion in a cold water). |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anxiety | Pre-test (before tDCS) | Visual analogue scale (VAS) for anxiety assesses anxiety symptoms that we tracked as possible confounding factor. The VAS for general anxiety is assessed by a horizontal 100-mm-long line. The extreme left end points to no anxiety, and the extreme right end to the worst anxiety possible. |
| Depression | Pre-test (before tDCS) | Beck depression inventory (BDI) for depressive symptoms that we tracked as possible confounding factor. The BDI is a tool of self-assessment of depression using a questionnaire with 21 items whose intensity varies from 0 to 3 (higher scores indicating more depressive symptoms). |
| Pain catastrophizing | Pre-test (before tDCS) | Catastrophizing pain scale that we tracked as possible confounding factor. The pain catastrophizing scale consists of 13 sentences describing pain-related thoughts or feelings. These are divided into 3 domains: rumination, magnification and helplessness. The total score on the questionnaire can lie between 0 - 52 where a higher score indicates higher levels of pain catastrophizing thoughts. |
Countries
Brazil
Outcome results
None listed