Neuroscience
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of High-definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Conditioned Pain Modulation in Healthy Adults: A Crossover Randomized Controlled Trial.
The disorder of the conditioned pain modulation (CPM) system is one of the main causes of pain perception in individuals. High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) targeting specific brain areas was indicated to have an analgesic effect possibly by activating the endogenous pain inhibition pathway evident in CPM. However, discrepancies were found in previous limited studies of varied homogeneity and quality. ⋯ The changes of CPM were positively correlated with the total physical activity volume. In conclusion, our findings provide evidence support to the effectiveness of HD-tDCS on endogenous pain modulation among healthy adults. Further studies are required to explore the analgesic effect of tDCS among patients with chronic pain, thereby facilitating optimal chronic pain management.