ArticleExperimental brain research2017
The side of chronic low back pain matters: evidence from the primary motor cortex excitability and the postural adjustments of multifidi muscles.
Article in Experimental brain research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05961774 (The Investigation of Underlying Mechanism of Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Activation Deficits in Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
The Investigation of Underlying Mechanism of Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Activation Deficits in Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain
Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pain's Adverse Impact on Training-Induced Performance and Neuroplasticity: A Systematic Review.Brain imaging and behavior · 2022Pooled it
- The Effects of Cognitive Loading on Motor Behavior in Injured Individuals: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2019Pooled it
- Real-world two-year durability of restorative neurostimulation for treatment of multifidus dysfunction in patients with chronic low back pain: an observational German cohort study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Observational
- Neuromuscular and Kinetic Adaptations to Symmetric and Asymmetric Load Carriage During Walking in Individuals with Chronic Low Back Pain.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Central and peripheral factors moderating pain effects on motor control and disability in chronic lumbosacral radicular pain.Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation · 2025Article
- Article
- Contribution of neural circuits tested by transcranial magnetic stimulation in corticomotor control of low back muscle: a systematic review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- Motor cortex excitability in chronic low back pain.Experimental brain research · 2022Article
- Article
- Postural adjustments impairments in elderly people with chronic low back pain.Scientific reports · 2021Observational
- To Combine or Not to Combine Physical Therapy With tDCS for Stroke With Shoulder Pain? Analysis From a Combination Randomized Clinical Trial for Rehabilitation of Painful Shoulder in Stroke.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Effects of Repetitive Peripheral Magnetic Stimulation on Patients With Acute Low Back Pain: A Pilot Study.Annals of rehabilitation medicine · 2018Article
- Task-related and person-related variables influence the effect of low back pain on anticipatory postural adjustments.Human movement science · 2017Article
- Revisiting the Corticomotor Plasticity in Low Back Pain: Challenges and Perspectives.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2016Review
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Hemispheric lateralization of pain processing was reported with overactivation of the right frontal lobe. Specifically in chronic low back pain (CLBP), functional changes in the left primary motor cortex (M1) with impaired anticipatory postural activation (APA) of trunk muscles have been observed. Given the connections between frontal and M1 areas for motor planning, it is hypothesized that the pain side could differently influence M1 function and APA of paravertebral multifidus (MF) muscles. This study aimed at testing whether people with right- versus left-sided CLBP showed different M1 excitability and APA. Thirty-five individuals with lateralized CLBP (19 right-sided and 16 left-sided) and 13 pain-free subjects (normative values) were tested for the excitability of MF M1 area (active motor threshold-AMT) with transcranial magnetic stimulation and for the latency of MF APA during bilateral shoulder flexion and during unilateral hip extension in prone lying. In the right-sided CLBP group, the AMT of both M1 areas was lower than in the left-sided group and the pain-free subjects; the latency of MF APA was shorter in bilateral shoulder flexion and in the left hip extension tasks as compared to the left-sided group. In CLBP, an earlier MF APA was correlated with lower AMT in both tasks. People with right-sided CLBP presented with increased M1 excitability in both hemispheres and earlier MF APA. These results likely rely on cortical motor adaptation related to the tasks and axial muscles tested. Future studies should investigate whether CLBP side-related differences have a clinical impact, e.g. in diagnosis and intervention.
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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.