Alpha as a Predictive Biomarker (APB)

University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB)

Status

Completed

Conditions

Pain

Treatments

Other: Painful Stimuli

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Industry

Identifiers

NCT02796625

10017571

Details and patient eligibility

About

The investigators will use non-invasive recordings of brain activity to measure pain as a proxy to self-report. Participants will undergo testing for about 3 hours on two separate days. The testing will involve experiencing painful heat.

Full description

Neurophysiological investigations of pain have suggested that electroencephalograph (EEG) measures of peak alpha frequency might provide a means of pain assessment. In healthy subjects, increased peak alpha frequency is strongly correlated with pain self-reports after exposure to acute noxious heat. Conversely, chronic pain patients compared to healthy control display decreased peak alpha frequencies higher in alpha power. Measures of peak alpha frequency also show a negative relationship with disease duration, suggesting that peak alpha frequency may not only index ongoing pain but also disease progression. The overall aim is to determine the predictive accuracy, reliability, and specificity of EEG alpha activity in acute pain and a model of neuropathic pain in healthy subjects.

Enrollment

80 patients

Sex

All

Ages

21 to 44 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Able to speak, read, and write English
Between 21 and 44 years of age
Able to understand and willing to comply with all study procedures and is available for the duration of the study
Free of an acute or chronic pain condition
Not history of psychiatric or neurologic condition

Exclusion criteria

Unable to undergo EEG, assessed on an individual basis
History of unstable major psychiatric disorder (self-report)
History of chronic pain (self-report)
More than 14 alcoholic drinks per week on average (self-report)
Active [within 6 months] substance or alcohol abuse (self-report and urine toxicology)
Use of opioids (self-report and urine toxicology)
History of major depressive disorder (self-report)
Pregnant or Lactating (women only), based on (self-report and urine test)
Anything that, in the opinion of the investigator, would place the subject at increased risk or preclude the subject's full compliance with or completion of the study
Uncontrolled (systolic blood pressure > 175 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure >105 mmHg) or unstable hypertension