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Sensory disturbances, but not motor disturbances, induced by sensorimotor conflicts are increased in the presence of acute pain

Brun, Cl�mentine; Gagn�, Martin; McCabe, Candida; Mercier, Catherine

Sensory disturbances, but not motor disturbances, induced by sensorimotor conflicts are increased in the presence of acute pain Thumbnail


Authors

Cl�mentine Brun

Martin Gagn�

Candy McCabe Candy.Mccabe@uwe.ac.uk
Professor of Clinical Research and Practice

Catherine Mercier



Abstract

© 2017 Brun, Gagné, McCabe and Mercier. Incongruence between our motor intention and the sensory feedback of the action (sensorimotor conflict) induces abnormalities in sensory perception in various chronic pain populations, and to a lesser extent in pain-free individuals. The aim of this study was to simultaneously investigate sensory and motor disturbances evoked by sensorimotor conflicts, as well as to assess how they are influenced by the presence of acute pain. It was hypothesized that both sensory and motor disturbances would be increased in presence of pain, which would suggest that pain makes body representations less robust. Thirty healthy participants realized cyclic asymmetric movements of flexion-extension with both upper limbs in a robotized system combined to a 2D virtual environment. The virtual environment provided a visual feedback (VF) about movements that was either congruent or incongruent, while the robotized system precisely measured motor performance (characterized by bilateral amplitude asymmetry and medio-lateral drift). Changes in sensory perception were assessed with a questionnaire after each trial. The effect of pain (induced with capsaicin) was compared to three control conditions (no somatosensory stimulation, tactile distraction and proprioceptive masking). Results showed that while both sensory and motor disturbances were induced by sensorimotor conflicts, only sensory disturbances were enhanced during pain condition comparatively to the three control conditions. This increase did not statistically differ across VF conditions (congruent or incongruent). Interestingly however, the types of sensations evoked by the conflict in the presence of pain (changes in intensity of pain or discomfort, changes in temperature or impression of a missing limb) were different than those evoked by the conflict alone (loss of control, peculiarity and the perception of having an extra limb). Finally, results showed no relationship between the amount of motor and sensory disturbances evoked in a given individual. Contrary to what was hypothesized, acute pain does not appear to make people more sensitive to the conflict itself, but rather impacts on the type and amount of sensory disturbances that they experienced in response to that conflict.Moreover, the results suggest that some sensorimotor integration processes remain intact in presence of acute pain, allowing us to maintain adaptive motor behavior.

Citation

Brun, C., Gagné, M., McCabe, C., & Mercier, C. (2017). Sensory disturbances, but not motor disturbances, induced by sensorimotor conflicts are increased in the presence of acute pain. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 11(14), https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2017.00014

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 5, 2017
Publication Date Jul 21, 2017
Deposit Date Jul 7, 2017
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience
Publisher Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 11
Issue 14
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2017.00014
Keywords body schema, virtual reality, sensorimotor integration, Acute Pain
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/883992
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2017.00014
Additional Information Additional Information : This Document is Protected by copyright and was first published by Frontiers. All rights reserved. it is reproduced with permission.

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