Characterization of Source-Localized EEG Activity During Sustained Deep-Tissue Pain

Musculoskeletal pain is a clinical condition that is characterized by ongoing pain and discomfort in the deep tissues such as muscle, bones, ligaments, nerves, and tendons. In the last decades, it was subject to extensive research due to its high prevalence. Still, a quantitative description of the electrical brain activity during musculoskeletal pain is lacking. This study aimed to characterize intracranial current source density (CSD) estimations during sustained deep-tissue experimental pain. Twenty-three healthy volunteers received three types of tonic stimuli for three minutes each: computer-controlled cuff pressure (1) below pain threshold (sustained deep-tissue no-pain, SDTnP), (2) above pain threshold (sustained deep-tissue pain, SDTP) and (3) vibrotactile stimulation (VT). The CSD in response to these stimuli was calculated in seven regions of interest (ROIs) likely involved in pain processing: contralateral anterior cingulate cortex, contralateral primary somatosensory cortex, bilateral anterior insula, contralateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex and contralateral premotor cortex. Results showed that participants exhibited an overall increase in spectral power during SDTP in all seven ROIs compared to both SDTnP and VT, likely reflecting the differences in the salience of these stimuli. Moreover, we observed a difference is CSD due to the type of stimulus, likely reflecting somatosensory discrimination of stimulus intensity. These results describe the different contributions of neural oscillations within these brain regions in the processing of sustained deep-tissue pain.