Trial reportPloS one2013
Experimental placebo analgesia changes resting-state alpha oscillations.
Trial report in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02111382 (Electroencephalography Activity in Individuals With Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain After Cranial Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment), which is not on this map. Cited by 20 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Electroencephalography Activity in Individuals With Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain After Cranial Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment: Study Protocol of a Randomized, Controlled Crossover Trial
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Placebo Effects Are Small on Average in the 7.5% CO2 Inhalational Model of Generalized Anxiety.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Trial
- Immediate changes in electroencephalography activity in individuals with nonspecific chronic low back pain after cranial osteopathic manipulative treatment: study protocol of a randomized, controlled crossover trial.BMC complementary and alternative medicine · 2015Trial
- Article
- Altered cortical alpha modulations and connectivity in complex regional pain syndrome.The journal of pain · 2026Article
- Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation for Pain: Mixed Evidence and the Path to Precision Neuromodulation.Brain sciences · 2026Review
- Cue-based modulation of pain stimulus expectation: do ongoing oscillations reflect changes in pain perception? A registered report.Royal Society open science · 2024Article
- Relationships between peak alpha frequency, age, and autistic traits in young children with and without autism spectrum disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Local brain oscillations and interregional connectivity differentially serve sensory and expectation effects on pain.Science advances · 2023Article
- A feasibility study of pre-sleep audio and visual alpha brain entrainment for people with chronic pain and sleep disturbance.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Intensity-dependent modulation of cortical somatosensory processing during external, low-frequency peripheral nerve stimulation in humans.Journal of neurophysiology · 2022Article
- Temporal-spectral signaling of sensory information and expectations in the cerebral processing of pain.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- One-Year Follow-Up of Healthy Older Adults with Electroencephalographic Risk for Neurocognitive Disorder After Neurofeedback Training.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2022Article
- The temporal and spectral characteristics of expectations and prediction errors in pain and thermoception.eLife · 2021Article
- Acceptability and usability of smartphone-based brainwave entrainment technology used by individuals with chronic pain in a home setting.British journal of pain · 2020Article
- Entraining Alpha Activity Using Visual Stimulation in Patients With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Feasibility Study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2020Article
- Brain Rhythms of Pain.Trends in cognitive sciences · 2017Review
- Article
- Placebo Analgesia Changes Alpha Oscillations Induced by Tonic Muscle Pain: EEG Frequency Analysis Including Data during Pain Evaluation.Frontiers in computational neuroscience · 2016Article
- Cortical activities of heat-sensitization responses in suspended moxibustion: an EEG source analysis with sLORETA.Cognitive neurodynamics · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The lack of clear understanding of the pathophysiology of chronic pain could explain why we currently have only a few effective treatments. Understanding how pain relief is realised during placebo analgesia could help develop improved treatments for chronic pain. Here, we tested whether experimental placebo analgesia was associated with altered resting-state cortical activity in the alpha frequency band of the electroencephalogram (EEG). Alpha oscillations have been shown to be influenced by top-down processes, which are thought to underpin the placebo response. Seventy-three healthy volunteers, split into placebo or control groups, took part in a well-established experimental placebo procedure involving treatment with a sham analgesic cream. We recorded ongoing (resting) EEG activity before, during, and after the sham treatment. We show that resting alpha activity is modified by placebo analgesia. Post-treatment, alpha activity increased significantly in the placebo group only (p < 0.001). Source analysis suggested that this alpha activity might have been generated in medial components of the pain network, including dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and left insula. These changes are consistent with a cognitive state of pain expectancy, a key driver of the placebo analgesic response. The manipulation of alpha activity may therefore present an exciting avenue for the development of treatments that directly alter endogenous processes to better control pain.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.