The following is a summary of “Modulation of pain perception through transcranial alternating current stimulation and its nonlinear relationship with the simulated electric field magnitude,” published in the February 2024 issue of Pain by Ikarashi et al.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to decipher the physiological role of theta- and beta-band oscillations in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in shaping pain perception in healthy and chronically affected individuals.
They investigated how theta- and beta-band transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) on the left DLPFC affected pain perception in healthy people. The correlation between modulation impact and electric field strength induced by tACS in the left DLPFC was analyzed computationally.
The results showed that both theta- and beta-tACS raised the heat pain threshold during and after stimulation. Interestingly, the simulated electric field strength in the left DLPFC demonstrated a relationship with the pain modulation effect for theta-tACS that resembled an inverted U-shaped curve.
Investigators concluded that optimizing electric field strength was crucial for maximizing the analgesic benefit of theta-band tACS interventions.
Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejp.2249
