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A Protocol of Manual Tests to Measure Sensation and Pain in Humans
Published on: December 19, 2016
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The human pain system exhibits higher-order plasticity (metaplasticity)
Walter Magerl1, Niels Hansen2, Rolf-Detlef Treede1
1Department of Neurophysiology, Center of Biomedicine and Medical Technology Mannheim (CBTM), Medical Faculty Mannheim, Ruprecht Karl-University Heidelberg, Ludolf Krehl-Str. 13-17, 68167 Mannheim, Germany.
Neurobiology of Learning and Memory
|April 10, 2018
Summary
Very low-frequency stimulation (VLFS) can prevent or reverse long-term potentiation (LTP) of pain perception, suggesting new mechanisms for managing pain memory and hyperalgesia. Individual pain plasticity "fingerprints" were observed, with no gender differences in pain modulation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pain Perception Research
- Human Electrophysiology
Background:
- The human pain system exhibits bidirectional modulation via high-frequency (HFS) and low-frequency (LFS) stimulation of nociceptors, leading to long-term potentiation (pain-LTP) or depression (pain-LTD).
- Understanding the plasticity of pain perception is crucial for developing effective pain management strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of very low-frequency stimulation (VLFS) on established pain plasticity.
- To explore the potential of VLFS in preventing or reversing pain potentiation and its implications for pain memory.
Main Methods:
- Electrical stimulation of nociceptors using varying frequencies (HFS, LFS, VLFS) in human subjects.
- Assessment of pain perception thresholds and modulation following different stimulation protocols.
- Analysis of pain-LTP and pain-LTD induction and reversal.
Main Results:
- VLFS priming prevented pain-LTP by increasing the threshold for its induction.
- Subsequent VLFS reversed pre-existing HFS-induced pain-LTP, indicating priming for pain-LTD.
- The pain elicited by conditioning HFS remained unaffected by VLFS.
- No significant gender differences were observed in pain-LTP or its metaplasticity.
Conclusions:
- The human pain system demonstrates higher-order plasticity (metaplasticity) capable of bidirectional modulation along the pain-LTD to pain-LTP continuum.
- VLFS offers potential mechanisms for preventing pain memory and erasing hyperalgesia.
- Individual differences in pain plasticity, termed "pain plasticity fingerprints," were identified.
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