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Updated: May 26, 2026
Electrophysiological Measurements and Analysis of Nociception in Human Infants
Published on: December 20, 2011
Electrophysiological measurements and analysis of nociception in human infants
L Fabrizi1, A Worley, D Patten
1Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London.
Insights
Infant pain assessment using electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) offers a more accurate measure of central nervous system processing than behavioral cues. This method provides a sensitive clinical tool for understanding newborn pain responses.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
- Pain Research
Background:
- Infant pain assessment relies on behavioral and physiological responses, which may not accurately reflect central nervous system processing.
- Current methods are limited as they primarily track subcortical motor and autonomic pathways, not central sensory processing.
- Understanding central nervous system responses to noxious stimuli is crucial for accurate newborn pain evaluation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate nociceptive activity in the infant brain and spinal cord during a common painful procedure.
- To describe the use of electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) for studying infant pain.
- To present an integrative approach for developing a sensitive clinical pain measurement tool for infants.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing the heel lancing procedure, a common blood-sampling method in hospitalized infants, as a model for noxious stimulation.
- Employing time-locked electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity.
- Using time-locked electromyography (EMG) to assess spinal cord and muscle responses.
Main Results:
- EEG and EMG recordings provide direct measures of central nervous system activity in response to noxious stimuli.
- This integrative approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of nociceptive processing in newborns.
- The study demonstrates the feasibility of using EEG and EMG to capture objective pain responses.
Conclusions:
- An integrative EEG and EMG approach offers a more reliable method for assessing infant pain compared to traditional behavioral measures.
- This technique has the potential to be developed into a sensitive and effective clinical tool for pain management in newborns.
- Further research can refine this method for routine clinical use in evaluating infant pain.
Abstract:
Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience. Since infants cannot verbally report their experiences, current methods of pain assessment are based on behavioural and physiological body reactions, such as crying, body movements or changes in facial expression. While these measures demonstrate that infants mount a response following noxious stimulation, they are limited: they are based on activation of subcortical somatic and autonomic motor pathways that may not be reliably linked to central sensory processing in the brain. Knowledge of how the central nervous system responds to noxious events could provide an insight to how nociceptive information and pain is processed in newborns. The heel lancing procedure used to extract blood from hospitalised infants offers a unique opportunity to study pain in infancy. In this video we describe how electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) time-locked to this procedure can be used to investigate nociceptive activity in the brain and spinal cord. This integrative approach to the measurement of infant pain has the potential to pave the way for an effective and sensitive clinical measurement tool.
