Reduced Somatosensory Evoked Potentials and Paired-pulse Inhibition in the Primary Somatosensory Cortex of Athletes with Chronic Pain

Overview

Journal Eur J Appl Physiol

Specialty Physiology

Date 2023 Jun 17

PMID 37330433

Authors

Koya Yamashiro

Kanako Shiiya

Koyuki Ikarashi

Sayaka Anazawa

Taiki Makibuchi

Yasuhiro Baba

Tomomi Fujimoto

Genta Ochi

Go Omori

Daisuke Sato

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: Chronic pain impedes athletic training and performance. However, it is challenging to identify the precise causes of chronic pain for effective treatment. To examine possible neuroplastic changes in sensory transmission and cortical processing, we compared somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) and paired-pulse inhibition (PPI) in primary sensory cortex (S1) between athletes with chronic pain and control athletes.

Methods: Sixty-six intercollegiate athletes (39 males and 27 females) were recruited for this study, 45 control athletes and 21 reporting persistent pain for > 3 months. Sensory-evoked potentials were induced in S1 by constant-current square-wave pulses (0.2-ms duration) delivered to the right median nerve, while PPI was induced by paired stimulation at interstimulus intervals of 30 and 100 ms (PPI-30 and PPI-100 ms, respectively). All participants were randomly presented with total 1,500 (each 500 stimuli) single stimuli and stimulus pairs at 2 Hz.

Results: Both N20 amplitude and PPI-30 ms were significantly lower in athletes with chronic pain compared to control athletes, while P25 amplitude and PPI-100 ms did not differ significantly between groups.

Conclusion: Chronic pain in athletes is associated with substantially altered excitatory-inhibitory balance within the primary somatosensory cortex, possibly due to reduced thalamocortical excitatory transmission and suppressed cortical inhibitory transmission.

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