Explosive Synchronization of Brain Network Activity in Chronic Pain
This project is being conducted to evaluate the impact of explosive synchronization (ES) and its treatment with non-invasive brain stimulation in fibromyalgia (FM). The study design has three components, however, only 2 aims are enrolling participants. The first part (Aim1) is a cross sectional assessment of brain network explosive synchronization activity, connectivity, and response to pain in healthy controls and age and sex-matched fibromyalgia patients; the third part (Aim 3) is a longitudinal assessment of fibromyalgia patients undergoing one week of sham followed by high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) of the motor cortex (M1) or one week of ES HD-tDCS of a brain region identified from computer modelling (Aim 2).
• Satisfy the American College of Rheumatology (2011) survey criteria for the classification of Fibromyalgia (FM).
• Continued presence of pain for more than 50% of days for the past month.
• Mean recalled pain over the last seven days (7-day recall) greater than or equal to 3 on a 10 centimeter (cm) Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain; 7-day recall
• Willing to limit the introduction of any new medications or treatment modalities for control of FM symptoms during the study.
• Right-handed.
• Able to travel to the study site to receive (HD-tDCS) treatments five times weekly
• Understanding and willing to complete all study procedures.
• Capable of giving written informed consent.
• Right-handed
• Pain less than 0.5cm on a 10cm Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain; 7-day recall
• Understanding and willing to complete all study procedures
• Capable of giving written informed consent