• Eleonora Vecchio, Katia Ricci, Anna Montemurno, Marianna Delussi, Sara Invitto, and Marina de Tommaso.
• Neurophysiopathology of Pain Unit, SMBNOS Department, Bari Aldo Moro University, Giovanni XXIII Building-Polyclinic General Hospital, Via Amendola 207 A -70123 Bari, Italy. Electronic address: eleonora.vecchio@uniba.it.
• Neurosci. Lett. 2016 Jul 28; 626: 149-57.

AbstractMigraine is characterized by an altered cortical excitability. Because transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) can change brain activity noninvasively, it is possible to hypothesize its efficacy in modulating pain in migraine. In this study, we compared the effects of tDCS of the left primary motor cortex (M1) and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) both on subjective pain and on evoked responses induced by laser stimulation (LEPs). Thirty-two patients and sixteen controls were randomized to receive sham stimulation and real tDCS with the anode centered over M1 or DLPFC. Laser Evoked potentials were recorded in basal, sham and tDCS conditions. We did not find significant acute changes in LEPs parameters and pain perception among subjects who received tDCS of both M1 and DLPFC. After DLPFC tDCS, we observed a significant increase of N2-P2 component habituation in migraine patients while M1 stimulation reduced it. These findings may suggest a modulation of abnormal pain processing induced by DLPFC and M1 anodal tDCS and outline the need for future investigations exploring the possible neuronal plasticity changes supporting the clinical effect on migraine.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

23 keywords...

hide…