Experimental Pain, Low Back Pain
Conditions
Keywords
EEG, fMRI, thalamus, pain, experimental pain, low back pain
Brief summary
This study aims to identify spatiotemporal alterations in thalamocortical circuitry functioning in both healthy subjects and patients with chronic pain, combining multimodal neuroimaging.
Detailed description
Investigators will pursue this goal in both experimental and clinical models at two sites (Florida State U/FSU & Mass General Hospital/MGH), implementing parallel enrollment of large and diverse samples (140 healthy participants and 60 patients with chronic low back pain/cLBP). Leveraging the fully developed multimodal neuroimaging methodology-simultaneous EEG-fMRI and combined EEG-MEG-fMRI, the investigators will investigate TC dysconnectivity (fMRI) and alpha dysrhythmia (EEG/MEG) during experimental pressure pain and chronic back pain.
Interventions
OTHERNo intervention
No intervention involved in this study
Sponsors
Massachusetts General Hospital
Florida State University
Study design
Observational model
CASE_CROSSOVER
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Healthy subjects for both MGH and FSU sites Inclusion Criteria: 1. healthy male and female adults 2. Between the ages of 18 and 60 years 3. Meeting the MRI / MEG / EEG screening criteria 4. Fluent in English; English can be a second language provided that the patients understand all questions used in the assessment measures. This will be asked and judged during the phone screen.
Exclusion criteria
1. Current or past history of major medical, neurological, or psychiatric illness based on self-report 2. History of cardiac, respiratory, or nervous system disease that, in the investigator's judgment, precludes participation in the study because of a heightened potential for adverse outcome (for example: asthma or claustrophobia) 3. History of head trauma 4. Pregnant or lactating 5. Presence of any contraindications to MRI scanning (for example: cardiac pacemaker, metal implants, claustrophobia, pregnancy, cannot lie still in fMRI scanner) 6. Conditions making study participation difficult (e.g., paralysis, psychoses, or other severe psychological problems as per the judgment of a study investigator during Session 1) 7. Active substance abuse disorders (based on subject self-report) Subjects with chronic low back pain (MGH site) Inclusion Criteria: 1. Volunteers 18-60 years of age 2. Meet the Classification Criteria of the chronic LBP (having low back pain for more than 6 months) 3. At least 4/10 clinical pain on the 0-10 LBP NRS 4. Meeting the MRI / MEG / EEG screening criteria 5. Fluent in English; English can be a second language provided that the patients understand all questions used in the assessment measures. This will be asked and judged during the phone screen.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| thalamocortical functional connectivity | baseline | functional connectivity between the thalamus and cortex as measured by resting state fMRI |
| alpha oscillations | baseline | alpha oscillations as measured by EEG and MEG |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| alpha band source | Baseline | MEG and EEG data will be used to estimate the alpha band source |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed