Photo Credit: Zelenenka

The following is a summary of “Peak alpha frequency differs between chronic back pain and chronic widespread pain,” published in the October 2024 issue of Pain by McLain et al. 

Low peak alpha frequency (PAF), an electroencephalography (EEG) outcome, is related to high acute pain sensitivity, but its relationship to chronic pain is less consistent, potentially due to the heterogeneity of chronic pain conditions.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate the variations in PAF among different chronic pain diagnoses and subtypes.  

They reanalyzed a dataset of resting state EEG previously utilized among individuals with chronic pain and healthy controls to show no difference in PAF. In this analysis, patients were categorized by diagnosis, allowing for a comparison of PAF across 3 subgroups: chronic widespread pain (n=30), chronic back pain (n=38), and HCs (n=87).  

The results showed no significant difference between chronic pain groups and controls. However, individuals with widespread pain had significantly higher global average PAF values than those with chronic back pain [P= 0.028, β = 0.25 Hz] after controlling for age, sex, and depression.  

They concluded that the individuals with chronic pain may have varied PAF values depending on the specific diagnosis and may not always differ significantly from HCs. 

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejp.4737