Researchers have found a way to “tune” the brain to a certain frequency and the result is reduced pain – at least in test subjects who had laser-heat applied to the back of their arms.
The scientists at the Human Pain Research Group at The University of Manchester found that nerve cells on the surface of the brain are coordinated with each other at a particular frequency depending on the state of the brain.
Alpha waves which are tuned at 9-12 cycles per second have been recently associated with enabling parts of the brain concerned with higher control to influence other parts of the brain. They found that alpha waves from the front of the brain are associated with placebo analgesia and may be influencing how other parts of the brain process pain.
This finding led to the idea that if we can ‘tune’ the brain to express more alpha waves, perhaps we can reduce pain experienced by people with certain conditions.
Dr. Kathy Ecsy and her colleagues did just that!
They provided volunteers with goggles that flash light in the alpha range or by sound stimulation in both ears phased to provide the same stimulus frequency. They found that both visual and auditory stimulation significantly reduced the intensity of pain induced by laser-heat repeatedly shone on the back of the arm.
Professor Anthony Jones is the director of the Manchester Pain Consortium said, “This is very exciting because it provides a potentially new, simple and safe therapy that can now be trailed in patients. At recent public engagements events we have had a lot of enthusiasm from patients for this kind of neuro-therapeutic approach.”
While the study was performed on localized pain on the back of the arm, and NOT on subjects with chronic pain, the researchers acknowledged that further studies are required to test the effectiveness in patients with actual pain conditions and noted that the simplicity and low cost of the technology should facilitate such clinical studies.
Dr. Chris Brown, who is a Lecturer in Psychology at The University of Liverpool, who was involved in the research while working in Manchester, said, “It is interesting that similar results were obtained with visual and auditory stimulation, which will provide some flexibility when taking this technology into patient studies. For instance this might be particularly useful for patients having difficulty sleeping because of recurrent pain at night.”