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Effects of movement‐related cortical activities on pain‐related somatosensory evoked potentials following CO 2 laser stimulation in normal subjects
Author(s) -
Kakigi R.,
Matsuda Y.,
Kuroda Y.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
acta neurologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.967
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1600-0404
pISSN - 0001-6314
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1993.tb05361.x
Subject(s) - stimulus (psychology) , somatosensory system , stimulation , somatosensory evoked potential , physical medicine and rehabilitation , psychology , medicine , perception , threshold of pain , anesthesia , neuroscience , audiology , cognitive psychology
We investigated the change in pain perception produced by the application of movement and vibration to areas adjacent to, and remote from, the painful stimulus. Pain‐related somatosensory evoked potentials (pain SEPs) and the pain threshold were evaluated following CO 2 laser stimulation in 17 normal subjects. The concurrent application of vibratory stimuli and the voluntary movement of the fingers of the hand to which the pain stimulus was applied significantly reduced and prolonged the pain SEPs and increased the pain threshold, consistent with the gate control theory. Pain SEPs were also significantly attenuated by voluntary (P< 0.001) and passive (P<0.02) movement of the remote areas such as the foot, but the pain threshold was unaffected. This finding was not produced by vibration or movement imagery of the limbs without active movement. Therefore, interactions between pain perception and movement‐related cortical activities must take place in some areas of the brain without relieving pain.