Low Back Pain Assessment Based on Alpha Oscillation Changes in Spontaneous Electroencephalogram (EEG)

Abstract

Objectively and accurately assessing pain in clinical settings is challenging. Previous studies showed that alpha oscillations of electroencephalogram data are correlated with subjective perceived pain. Based on this finding, this study is aimed at assessing chronic low back pain based on alpha oscillations. Multichannel electroencephalogram data were recorded from 27 subjects with chronic low back pain under the simple conditions of closing eyes or opening eyes. Spectral analyses were conducted to extract the alpha band responses, and the alpha powers were calculated for the two conditions, respectively. Normalized alpha power was calculated by subtracting the alpha power in the eyes-open condition from that in the eyes-closed condition. The correlation between the alpha power and the subjective pain intensity was evaluated in frontal, central, and posterior regions. The normalized alpha power in the central region was negatively correlated with the subjective pain intensity ( R = − 0.50 , P = 0.01 ), with the strongest correlation occurring at the Cz electrode ( R = − 0.59 , P = 0.04 ). The correlation analysis results demonstrated the possibility of using the differences of alpha spectral power between eyes-closed and eyes-open conditions as a measure for assessing chronic low back pain. The findings suggest that the normalized alpha power in the central region may be used as a measurable and quantitative indicator of chronic pain for clinical applications.

Is There a Difference in EEG Characteristics in Acute, Chronic, and Experimentally Induced Musculoskeletal Pain States? a Systematic Review

“…Additionally, these changes were associated with subjective pain sensation. This suggests and supports the existing evidence 8,33,94,95 that the changes in alpha power can be an important EEG marker in chronic and experimentally induced pain states. However, our findings suggest a lack of evidence for the direction of alpha power changes associated with chronic and experimentally induced pain conditions.…”

Resting-state electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography as biomarkers of chronic pain: a systematic review

“…Finally, 76 studies were included. 1,5–8,10,11,15,16,18–27,30–33,35,37–49,51,56,59,60,63,66–69,74–76,79,80,82,89–91,95–98,100–105,109,110,112–115,120,122,124–126 Figure 1 depicts the PRISMA flow diagram of study selection along with reasons for study exclusion at every stage.…”

“…Finally, 76 studies were included. 1,[5][6][7][8]10,11,15,16,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][30][31][32][33]35,[37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]51,56,59,60,63,[66][67][68][69][74][75][76]79,80,82,[89]…”

“…However, because included studies used heterogeneous statistical methods for hypothesis testing, we did not superimpose effect size estimation contours on the plots. Modified albatross plots were used for comparison of PAF, frequency-specific power, and frequency-specific connectivity at theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13), beta (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30), and gamma frequencies in cross-sectional (diagnostic biomarker), longitudinal (monitoring biomarker), and descriptive studies (monitoring/diagnostic biomarker). For graphical presentation of longitudinal study results, we only included studies that reported pain relief.…”

Lower individual alpha frequency in individuals with chronic low back pain and fear of movement

“…Individual alpha frequency is used as a tool to investigate the effect of pain on neuronal activity in sensory, motor, and emotional brain networks. 21,23,64 Individual alpha frequency or the frequency at which dominant power occurs within the brain is typically located around 10 Hz in healthy young adults and slowly decreases with normal aging. 6,55 Individual alpha frequency has high test-retest reliability 31 and correlates with performance on cognitive tasks.…”