Brain, Brainstem, and Spinal Cord fMRI

Investigating Pain Processing in the Brain, Brainstem, and Spinal Cord With fMRI

New advances in medical imaging have allowed for the measurement of brain activity related to chronic pain. In addition to the brain, the investigators aim to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate pain processing in the brainstem and spinal cord in healthy subjects and chronic neck pain patients. The information gained from this study will increase the investigators understanding of how chronic pain is encoded in the nervous system and assist in developing more effective treatment strategies.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Chronic Pain; Neck Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Detailed Description

The experimental design is an observational (non-interventional) cross-sectional clinical study. The principal goal of the proposed research is to utilize functional magnetic resonance imaging to further investigate and characterize pain-related neural activity at the level of the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord in healthy subjects and chronic neck pain patients. Healthy subjects and chronic neck pain patients will be recruited and participate in a single session of data collection. For both the healthy and chronic neck pain groups, painful thermal stimuli will be applied over the skin of the upper extremity while whole brain, brainstem, and cervical spinal cord functional images are acquired (on separate scans). For the chronic neck pain group, additional scans (brain, brainstem, and cervical spinal cord) will be acquired while the subjects rate their spontaneous chronic neck pain.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 13

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
      • Center for Translational Imaging, Northwestern University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Healthy subjects and chronic neck pain patients recruited from the community

Description

Healthy subjects must meet all of the following inclusion criteria to participate in this study:

1. Age between 21 and 60 years old
2. Right-handed; not currently experiencing significant pain
3. No history of a chronic pain syndrome such as fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, chronic low back pain, etc.

Chronic neck pain patients must meet all of the following inclusion criteria to participate in this study:

1. Age between 21 and 60 years old
2. Right handed; neck pain > 3 months duration; moderate neck pain score > 30 on VAS (0-100) 3) No history of a chronic pain syndrome (fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, chronic low back pain, etc.) other than chronic neck pain and its associated symptoms.

Participants meeting any of the following exclusion criteria at baseline will be excluded from study participation:

1. Non-English speaking
2. Signs of upper extremity sensation loss; history of significant cerebrovascular disease including (but not limited to) epilepsy, stroke, tumor, multiple sclerosis, meningitis
3. History of major head trauma with sustained loss of consciousness; history of neurosurgery, ENT surgery, spine surgery, or cardiac surgery
4. History of cardiac pacemaker or neurostimulator implantation
5. History of significant medical illness including cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, severe asthma requiring hospitalization for treatment, renal insufficiency requiring dialysis, etc.
6. History of alcoholism or consistent drug use; current infection or fever; pregnancy (or possible pregnancy)
7. History of metal working or injury with shrapnel or metal slivers
8. Claustrophobia
9. Piercings that are unable to be removed and tattoos older than 30 years

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Healthy subjects; Functional magnetic resonance imaging of healthy subjects	Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be performed to measure brain, brainstem, and spinal cord activity.
Chronic neck pain patients; Functional magnetic resonance imaging of chronic neck pain patients	Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Functional magnetic resonance imaging will be performed to measure brain, brainstem, and spinal cord activity.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Functional magnetic resonance imaging	Use functional magnetic resonance imaging to characterize brain, brainstem, and spinal cord pain processing in healthy subjects (thermal pain) and chronic neck pain patients (thermal pain and spontaneous clinical pain).	1.5-2.25 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Northwestern University
• Collaborators: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Todd Parrish, PhD, Northwestern University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: January 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2015
• Study Completion (Actual): December 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 2, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 4, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): February 5, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): December 21, 2015
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 18, 2015
• Last Verified: December 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Brain; Neurophysiology; Spinal Cord; Brain Stem
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Chronic Pain; Neck Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: STU00067625; 5F32AT007800-03 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)