ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pain Res.
Sec. Neuropathic Pain
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1603345
Altered Neural Oscillation Patterns and Functional Connectivity in Postherpetic Neuralgia: Evidence from Resting-state EEG
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Pain Medicine, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 2Center for Ubiquitous Computing, University of Oulu, Oulu, Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland
- 3School of Psychology, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan Province, China
- 4Department of Anesthesiology, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
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Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a debilitating chronic pain condition that significantly affects the quality of life, often leading to physical discomfort, emotional distress, and psychological comorbidities, such as depression and anxiety. This study aimed to systematically assess the neural oscillatory activity and functional connectivity patterns in patients with PHN using resting-state electroencephalography (EEG). Overall, 21 patients with PHN and 17 healthy controls participated in this study. Power spectrum density analysis revealed significantly higher EEG power across the delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands in patients with PHN compared with controls. Correlation analyses indicated that delta and theta frequency band power were positively associated with the Beck Depression Inventory scores, whereas delta frequency band power was negatively correlated with the State Anxiety Inventory scores. Additionally, functional connectivity analysis using the weighted phase lag index demonstrated reduced gamma-band connectivity in patients with PHN, particularly in regions in the sensorimotor and pain modulation networks. These findings suggest that PHN is characterized by widespread hyperactivity in neural circuits, accompanied by disrupted interregional communication. These results provide valuable insights into the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying PHN and highlight potential biomarkers for developing targeted neuromodulatory treatments to alleviate pain and improve the psychological well-being of affected individuals.
Keywords: postherpetic neuralgia, Electroencephalography, power spectrum density, functional connectivity, Neural oscillations
Received: 31 Mar 2025; Accepted: 01 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gao, Wang, Jia, Georgiev, Feng and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yi Feng, Department of Pain Medicine, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, 100044, Beijing Municipality, China
Wenxia Li, Department of Anesthesiology, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, Beijing Municipality, China
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