The assessment and treatment of altered neuroplasticity in musculoskeletal pain
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1
Western Sydney University, Brain Rehabilitation and Neuroplasticity Unit, School of Science and Health, Australia
Aims: Structural and functional changes are evident in the brains of people experiencing musculoskeletal pain. In particular, maladaptive neuroplasticity is present in the primary sensory and motor cortices when pain becomes persistent, and these changes are thought to contribute to movement dysfunction and the recurrence and/or persistence of pain. This presentation will outline measurement tools that can be used to assess neuroplasticity in the primary sensory and motor cortices of people with pain. Neuroplastic changes in the acute (pain lasting minutes to hours), transition (pain lasting for days to weeks) and persistent (pain lasting for months) stages of pain will be presented. The relationship between altered neuroplasticity and the symptoms of pain will be discussed. Following this, evidence for a range of novel treatments designed to directly target altered neuroplasticity in pain will be presented including non-invasive brain stimulation and peripheral electrical stimulation. Therapeutic potential, controversies and future directions of these treatments applied alone, and in conjunction with traditional therapies (e.g. exercise) will be discussed.
Methods: This presentation will cover a range of methodologies including Transcranial magnetic stimulation, somatosensory evoked potentials, transcranial direct current stimulation and peripheral electrical stimulation.
Results: Data from mechanistic studies that utilize experimental pain models to understand how neuroplasticity is altered in pain, as well as clinical studies of patient groups, will be provided in the first part of this presentation. Data from clinical studies of novel treatments designed to target neuroplasticity in musculoskeletal pain (including focal dystonia, low back pain and knee OA) will form the basis of the second half of this presentation.
Conclusions: Neuroplasticity is altered when pain is persistent. This presentation will provide an overview of methods to assess neuroplasticity throughout the transition from acute to persistent pain and discuss novel treatments to target altered neuroplasticity in musculoskeletal pain conditions.
Acknowledgements
Siobhan Schabrun receives salary support from The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (#1105040)
Keywords:
Musculoskeletal Pain,
neuroplasticity,
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation,
transcranial direct current stimulation,
Chronic Pain
Conference:
ASP2016 - The 26th Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology, Adelaide Australia, Adelaide,SA, Australia, 12 Dec - 14 Dec, 2016.
Presentation Type:
Oral Presentation
Topic:
Abstract (general)
Citation:
Schabrun
S
(2016). The assessment and treatment of altered neuroplasticity in musculoskeletal pain.
Conference Abstract:
ASP2016 - The 26th Annual Meeting of the Australasian Society for Psychophysiology, Adelaide Australia.
doi: 10.3389/conf.fnhum.2016.221.00014
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Received:
01 Nov 2016;
Published Online:
05 Dec 2016.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Siobhan Schabrun, Western Sydney University, Brain Rehabilitation and Neuroplasticity Unit, School of Science and Health, Sydney, Australia, s.schabrun@uws.edu.au