Analgesic aftereffects of alpha high-definition transcranial alternating current stimulation over the DLPFC during experimental pain

IF 4.7 2区医学 Q1 NEUROIMAGING

NeuroImage Pub Date : 2025-06-16 DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2025.121332

Baijintao Sun , Chuan Zhang , Qingwei Zhang , Xiaoxue Xu , Jixin Liu , Hanfeng Yang

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

High-definition transcranial alternating current stimulation (HD-tACS) targeting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) holds promise for pain management, though its neurobiological mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether alpha HD-tACS applied to the left DLPFC modulates gamma oscillations to sustain analgesia during capsaicin-induced experimental pain (0.1% Capsaicin cream). Forty-five healthy participants underwent a single-blind, within-subject, sham-controlled protocol. EEG recordings were taken at three key time points: baseline (resting state), 5 minutes post-HD-tACS, and 15 minutes post-HD-tACS. Numeric rating scale (NRS) and oscillatory power changes were analyzed before, during, and after both active and sham stimulation. Results showed that active alpha HD-tACS significantly reduced NRS and area under curve (AUC) scores during both the stimulation period (0-30 minutes) and the post-stimulation period (30-60 minutes) compared to sham. EEG analyses revealed increased theta (4-7 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta(14-29 Hz), and low gamma (30-55 Hz) oscillations in the left DLPFC post-stimulation, but only low gamma oscillations passed the false discovery rate (FDR) correction. These findings suggest that alpha HD-tACS induces delayed analgesia by modulating low gamma oscillations in the DLPFC, highlighting its potential as a tool for optimizing non-invasive neuromodulation in pain therapy. The study bridges mechanistic insights with clinical outcomes, emphasizing the role of DLPFC low gamma activity in maintaining endogenous pain control.

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高清晰度经颅交流电刺激对实验性疼痛中DLPFC的镇痛后效。

针对背外侧前额叶皮层（DLPFC）的高清晰度经颅交流电刺激（HD-tACS）有望治疗疼痛，尽管其神经生物学机制尚不清楚。本研究旨在探讨在辣椒素诱导的实验性疼痛（0.1%辣椒素乳膏）中，应用于左DLPFC的α HD-tACS是否调节γ振荡以维持镇痛。45名健康的参与者接受了单盲、受试者内部、假控制的实验。在基线（静息状态）、hd - tacs后5分钟和hd - tacs后15分钟三个关键时间点采集EEG记录。数值评定量表（NRS）和振荡功率变化分别在有源刺激和假刺激之前、期间和之后进行了分析。结果表明，与假手术相比，激活的α - HD-tACS在刺激期（0-30分钟）和刺激后（30-60分钟）均显著降低了NRS和AUC评分。脑电图分析显示，刺激后左DLPFC的θ (4-7 Hz)、α (8-13 Hz)、β (14-29 Hz)和低伽马（30-55 Hz）振荡增加，但只有低伽马振荡通过了错误发现率（FDR）校正。这些发现表明，α HD-tACS通过调节DLPFC中的低伽马振荡诱导延迟镇痛，突出了其作为优化疼痛治疗中非侵入性神经调节工具的潜力。该研究将机制见解与临床结果联系起来，强调DLPFC低伽马活动在维持内源性疼痛控制中的作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

NeuroImage 医学-核医学

CiteScore

11.30

自引率

10.50%

发文量

809

审稿时长

63 days

期刊介绍： NeuroImage, a Journal of Brain Function provides a vehicle for communicating important advances in acquiring, analyzing, and modelling neuroimaging data and in applying these techniques to the study of structure-function and brain-behavior relationships. Though the emphasis is on the macroscopic level of human brain organization, meso-and microscopic neuroimaging across all species will be considered if informative for understanding the aforementioned relationships.