EEG-characteristics of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Chronic Pain

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Chronic pain is a challenge for patients, physicians and society due to its high prevalence and its substantial individual and socio-economic burden. In recent years, innovative EEG-techniques have been used to study rhythmic brain activities in a variety of neuropsychiatric populations and in chronic pain and various abnormalities in neuronal oscillation patterns and connectivity between brain regions have been observed. However, it remains unclear whether these alterations of brain activity in chronic pain patients reflect pain characteristics like intensity, duration or type (e.g. neuropathic pain), or whether they reflect other symptoms associated with chronic pain. Neuropsychiatric comorbidities and cognitive deficits of chronic pain are being increasingly recognized, as they frequently cause substantial problems in social life and hinder patients from being able to work. However, it has not been studied yet whether neuronal oscillations and connectivity patterns in the brains of chronic pain patients covary with neuropsychiatric comorbidities (e.g. depression, anxiety, fatigue) and cognitive functioning. To this end, the investigators will obtain resting state EEG data in large cohort of patients with chronic pain and assess clinical characteristics of chronic pain including a variety of neuropsychiatric symptoms as well as working memory capacity as a proxy for cognitive functioning. Results from this study will offer valuable insights into and a better understanding of brain dysfunction of patients suffering from chronic pain. This can be helpful for diagnostic and therapeutic advances (e.g. brain stimulation and neurofeedback methods) in the near future.

Official Title
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EEG-characteristics of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Chronic Pain

Conditions
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Chronic Pain

Intervention / Treatment
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* Diagnostic Test: EEG / questionnaires / working memory task


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Chronic pain condition Willing and able to sign informed consent for study participation Exclusion Criteria: Severe concomitant neurological or psychiatric disease Primary headache condition

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Intervention/Treatment |
| --- |
|Diagnostic Test: EEG / questionnaires / working memory task|EEG resting state measurements and analysis of frequency bands (gamma, beta, alpha, theta), peak frequencies and connectivity measures / questionnaires for depression, anxiety, social activities, cognition, pain, sleep, fatigue / digitalized block-tapping task|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PROMIS-29 Profile v2.1 (tablet-based) | 29 questions about neuropsychiatric symptoms and quality of life to be rated on a scale from 1-5; higher scores indicate more severe symptoms. | 1 year (1 assessment per participant) | 
| PROMIS-Adult v2.0 - Cognitive Function 4a (tablet-based) | 4 questions about subjective cognitive symptoms to be rated on a scale from 1-5; higher scores indicate more severe symptoms | 1 year (1 assessment per participant) | 
| Working memory task (tablet-based) | Digitalized self-developed block-tapping task; summarized number of correctly answered levels results in final score (minium 0, maximum 14 points; higher scores indicating higher working memory capacity) | 1 year (1 assessment per participant) | 
| Quantitative resting-state Electroencephalography (5 minute EEG via 29 scalp electrodes): Power Analysis | Absolute and relative amplitudes/power (gamma, beta, alpha, theta) | 1 year (1 assessment per participant) | 
| Quantitative resting-state Electroencephalography (5 minute EEG via 29 scalp electrodes): Peak Frequency Analysis | Maximum power value in the EEG frequency spectrum | 1 year (1 assessment per participant) | 
| Quantitative resting-state Electroencephalography (5 minute EEG via 29 scalp electrodes): Connectivity analysis | Frequency specific connectivity (gamma, beta, alpha, theta) | 1 year (1 assessment per participant) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Chronic pain, electroencephalography, neuropsychiatry, working memory