Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30946953›Full record

Trial reportNeuroImage2019

Neurobiological mechanisms of TENS-induced analgesia.

W W Peng, Z Y Tang, F R Zhang, H Li, Y Z Kong, G D Iannetti, L Hu

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in NeuroImage, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
76citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
8.0field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

76 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Relief of pain due to uterine cramping/involution after birth.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020
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  15. Transcutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation Facilitates Cortical Arousal and Alertness.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023
    Trial
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  17. Article
  18. Observational
  19. Review
  20. Article

16 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.

W W PengCollege of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Z Y TangCAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
F R ZhangResearch Center of Brain Cognitive Neuroscience, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, China.
H LiCollege of Psychology and Sociology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Y Z KongCAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
G D IannettiNeuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rome, Italy; Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK.
L HuCAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, University College London, London, UK; Department of Pain Management, The State Key Clinical Specialty in Pain Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China. Electronic address: huli@psych.ac.cn.
Shenzhen University · CNUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences · CNInstitute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences · CNItalian Institute of Technology · ITLiaoning Normal University · CN

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pain inhibition by additional somatosensory input is the rationale for the widespread use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) to relieve pain. Two main types of TENS produce analgesia in animal models: high-frequency (∼50-100 Hz) and low-intensity 'conventional' TENS, and low-frequency (∼2-4 Hz) and high-intensity 'acupuncture-like' TENS. However, TENS efficacy in human participants is debated, raising the question of whether the analgesic mechanisms identified in animal models are valid in humans. Here, we used a sham-controlled experimental design to clarify the efficacy and the neurobiological effects of 'conventional' and 'acupuncture-like' TENS in 80 human volunteers. To test the analgesic effect of TENS we recorded the perceptual and brain responses elicited by radiant heat laser pulses that activate selectively Aδ and C cutaneous nociceptors. To test whether TENS has a long-lasting effect on brain state we recorded spontaneous electrocortical oscillations. The analgesic effect of 'conventional' TENS was maximal when nociceptive stimuli were delivered homotopically, to the same hand that received the TENS. In contrast, 'acupuncture-like' TENS produced a spatially-diffuse analgesic effect, coupled with long-lasting changes both in the state of the primary sensorimotor cortex (S1/M1) and in the functional connectivity between S1/M1 and the medial prefrontal cortex, a core region in the descending pain inhibitory system. These results demonstrate that 'conventional' and 'acupuncture-like' TENS have different analgesic effects, which are mediated by different neurobiological mechanisms.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAnalgesiaBrainElectroencephalographyFemaleHumansMaleTranscutaneous Electric Nerve StimulationYoung AdultAnalgesiaElectroencephalography (EEG)HumanPainResting stateTranscutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)

Identifiers

PMID30946953
PMCPMC6547049
OpenAlexW2934386891

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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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.