Alpha entrainment drives pain relief using visual stimulation in a sample of chronic pain patients: a proof-of-concept controlled study.



Lopez-Diaz, Karen, Henshaw, James, Casson, Alexander J, Brown, Christopher A ORCID: 0000-0003-1414-2635, Taylor, Jason R, Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J, Arendsen, Laura J, Jones, Anthony KP and Sivan, Manoj
(2021) Alpha entrainment drives pain relief using visual stimulation in a sample of chronic pain patients: a proof-of-concept controlled study. Neuroreport, 32 (5). pp. 394-398.

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Abstract

One-third of the population in the UK and worldwide struggle with chronic pain. Entraining brain alpha activity through noninvasive visual stimulation has been shown to reduce experimental pain in healthy volunteers. Neural oscillations entrainment offers a potential noninvasive and nonpharmacological intervention for patients with chronic pain, which can be delivered in the home setting and has the potential to reduce use of medications. However, evidence supporting its use in patients with chronic pain is lacking. This study explores whether (a) alpha entrainment increase alpha power in patients and (b) whether this increase in alpha correlates with analgesia. In total, 28 patients with chronic pain sat in a comfortable position and underwent 4-min visual stimulation using customised goggles at 10 Hz (alpha) and 7 Hz (control) frequency blocks in a randomised cross-over design. 64-channel electroencephalography and 11-point numeric rating scale pain intensity and pain unpleasantness scores were recorded before and after stimulation. Electroencephalography analysis revealed frontal alpha power was significantly higher when stimulating at 10 Hz when compared to 7 Hz. There was a significant positive correlation between increased frontal alpha and reduction in pain intensity (r = 0.33; P < 0.05) and pain unpleasantness (r = 0.40; P < 0.05) in the 10 Hz block. This study provides the first proof of concept that changes in alpha power resulting from entrainment correlate with an analgesic response in patients with chronic pain. Further studies are warranted to investigate dose-response parameters and equivalence to analgesia provided by medications.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: alpha activity, electroencephalography, treatment, visual stimulation
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 19 Apr 2021 07:59
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 22:52
DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0000000000001606
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3119710