Eeg Recordings Of Induced Neuroplasticity Through Physical And Social Pain Assessment In Chronic Pain Management Patients Following Spinal Cord Stimulation Manipulation

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS), an alternative non-opioid treatment for chronic pain, is a cost-effective treatment yielding a lower morbidity rate and higher rate of success when compared to pharmaceutical drugs and corrective spinal reoperation. SCS improves patients’ functional and psychological status by introducing low levels of electrical current to the dorsal portion of the spinal cord to effectively reduce individual levels of physical pain. Despite inducing a clear therapeutic effect, the underlying mechanism of the corrective therapy remains unknown. Electroencephalography (EEG) is one technique that is useful in examining the neural mechanism associated with chronic pain. The current study analyzes whether SCS treatment manipulation in chronic pain patients affects the perception of physical pain and whether these changes are reflected in EEG brain patterns, specifically EEG power in the alpha, beta, and theta ranges. In addition, previous literature has revealed a strong, positive correlation between physical pain and an individual’s sensitivity to social pain. The present study analyzes social sensitivity in chronic pain patients through self-reported social pain measures and a behavioral task where individuals were instructed to imagine being accepted or rejected by potential suitors. This poster will discuss the behavioral, psychological, and electrophysiological effects of turning the spinal cord stimulator on and off. Understanding the neural mechanism underlying the SCS can improve the refinement of SCS treatment in chronic pain patients