Pain catastrophizing and cortical responses in amputees with varying levels of phantom limb pain: a high-density EEG brain-mapping study
Abstract
Pain catastrophizing has been associated with phantom limb pain, but so far the cortical processes and the brain regions involved in this relationship have not been investigated. It was therefore tested whether catastrophizing was related to (1) spontaneous pain, (2) somatosensory activity and (3) cortical responses in phantom limb pain patients. The cortical responses were investigated via electroencephalography (EEG) as it has a high temporal resolution which may be ideal for investigating especially the attentional and hypervigilance aspect of catastrophizing to standardized acute stimuli. Eighteen upper limb amputees completed the pain catastrophizing scale. Patients' spontaneous pain levels (worst and average pain, numerical rating scales) and thresholds to electrical stimulation (sensory detection and VRS2: intense but not painful) were determined. Non-painful electrical stimuli were applied to both the affected and non-affected arm, while high-resolution (128 channels) EEG signals were recorded. Catastrophizing accounted for significant amounts of the variance in relation to spontaneous pain, especially worst pain (64.1%), and it was significantly associated with thresholds. At the affected side, catastrophizing was significantly related to the power RMS of the N/P135 dipole located in the area around the secondary somatosensory cortex which has been shown to be associated with arousal and expectations. These findings corroborate the attentional model of pain catastrophizing by indicating that even non-painful stimuli are related to enhanced attention to and negative expectations of stimuli, and they suggest that memory processes may be central to understanding the link between catastrophizing and pain.
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MBSR has similar effects on self-efficacy to CBT, with no significant differences between CBT and MBSR in improving self-efficacy.
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- Authors
- Vase, L., Egsgaard, L. L., Nikolajsen, L., Svensson, P., Jensen, T. S., & Arendt-Nielsen, L.
- Affiliations
- Aarhus University (DK)
- Aalborg University (DK)
- Aarhus University Hospital (DK)
- Venue
- Experimental Brain Research
- Published
- 2012-02-21
- Volume
- 218
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 407-417
- ISSN
- 0014-4819 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-1106
- OpenAlex
- W1998117113
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 5.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Experimental Brain Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Aarhus Universitetshospital
- Lundbeckfonden
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Keywords
- pain catastrophizing, phantom limb pain, upper limb amputees, spontaneous pain, somatosensory cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, pain anticipation, sensory detection threshold
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Amputees, Arousal, Attention, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Cognition, Electric Stimulation, Electroencephalography, Evoked Potentials, Female, Humans, Hyperalgesia, Male, Middle Aged, Pain Measurement, Intractable Pain, Phantom Limb, Somatosensory Cortex, Pain Threshold, Catastrophization
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