Exploring the EEG Signatures of Musculoskeletal Pain

Musculoskeletal pain is the most frequent health complaint reported by workers in Europe. Neurofeedback has been proposed to be an alternative to the current treatment of pain, however, the extent to which musculoskeletal pain alters the electroencephalographic (EEG) signal is still not known. The current study aims at identifying the signal characteristics provoked by musculoskeletal pain during movement. Healthy volunteers and patients diagnosed with Lateral Epicondylalgia performed wrist extension movements while EEG signals were collected. The power of the EEG signal was calculated and differences between healthy volunteers and patients were assessed. EEG activity of pain patients differed significantly from that observed in heathy volunteers within the alpha and beta band. This alteration is movement related and is particularly visible in frontal channel locations. The results of the current study are currently being implemented for the development of a neurofeedback protocol to treat musculoskeletal pain.