Clinical use of Electroencephalography in the Assessment of Acute Thermal Pain: A Narrative Review Based on Articles From 2009 to 2019.
Chloé SavignacDon Daniel OcayYacine MahdidStefanie Blain-MoraesCatherine E FerlandPublished in: Clinical EEG and neuroscience (2021)
Nowadays, no practical system has successfully been able to decode and predict pain in clinical settings. The inability of some patients to verbally express their pain creates the need for a tool that could objectively assess pain in these individuals. Neuroimaging techniques combined with machine learning are seen as possible candidates for the identification of pain biomarkers. This review aimed to address the potential use of electroencephalographic features as predictors of acute experimental pain. Twenty-six studies using only thermal stimulations were identified using a PubMed and Scopus search. Combinations of the following terms were used: "EEG," "Electroencephalography," "Acute," "Pain," "Tonic," "Noxious," "Thermal," "Stimulation," "Brain," "Activity," "Cold," "Subjective," and "Perception." Results revealed that contact-heat-evoked potentials have been widely recorded over central areas during noxious heat stimulations. Furthermore, a decrease in alpha power over central regions was revealed, as well as increased theta and gamma powers over frontal areas. Gamma and theta rhythms were associated with connectivity between sensory and affective regions involved in pain processing. A machine learning analysis revealed that the gamma band is a predominant predictor of acute thermal pain. This review also addressed the need of supplementing current spectral features with techniques that allow the investigation of network dynamics.
Keyphrases
- chronic pain
- pain management
- neuropathic pain
- machine learning
- liver failure
- working memory
- respiratory failure
- magnetic resonance imaging
- spinal cord
- physical activity
- drug induced
- ejection fraction
- computed tomography
- newly diagnosed
- magnetic resonance
- multiple sclerosis
- extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
- high frequency
- depressive symptoms
- deep learning
- postoperative pain
- bipolar disorder
- prognostic factors
- acute respiratory distress syndrome
- heat stress
- human health
- sleep quality
- clinical evaluation