Electrical Activity of Brain during Neurogenic Pain

Objective: Pain is a diverse phenomenon that leads to the excitation and activation of several regions of brain. The aim of this literature review is to determine the electrical activity of brain during neurogenic pain.

Methods: A literature review was conducted and literature search was performed using different search engines including Google scholar, JANE, PubMed, Cochrane and PEDro. Key words used were pain, neurogenic pain, neuropathic pain, brain waves, electroencephalography and brain electrical activity. Boolean terms were used to combine the terms during literature search. A total of twenty two studies were shortlisted and included in the study from 1991-2019.

Results: The findings of the literature showed alterations in the electrical activity of brain due to neurogenic pain, when analyzed using electro-encephalography (EEG) with over activation of brain’s theta and beta waves, coupling between theta and beta frequency range, thalamo-cortical interplay and significant differences in theta frequency range.

Conclusion: It is suggested that neurogenic pain results in the alterations in the electrical activity of brain especially in terms of theta and beta waves on EEG.