Zhang Yinhua, Li Xiaoyun, Qiu Shuang, Jin Richu, Peng Weiwei
School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Laboratory of Brain Atlas and Brain-Inspired Intelligence, State Key Laboratory of Multimodal Artificial Intelligence Systems, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China.
Commun Biol. 2025 Jun 5;8(1):865. doi: 10.1038/s42003-025-08304-4.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) exhibits potential for pain management, yet its protective efficacy against persistent pain remains underexplored. This study investigates the protective effects of preemptive tDCS over the primary motor cortex (M1) and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) on mitigating capsaicin-induced persistent pain. Eighty participants underwent M1- or dlPFC-targeted tDCS before capsaicin application, with electroencephalography recorded for 60 min. Both protocols comparably reduced pain intensity, anxiety, and sensorimotor β/γ-oscillation activity. Microstate analysis identified five canonical microstates (A - E) that have been linked to auditory, visual, default-mode, dorsal attention, and salience networks. M1-tDCS decreased microstate C (self-referential processing) while enhancing microstate D (cognitive control), whereas dlPFC-tDCS suppressed microstate D activity. Mechanistically, M1-tDCS alleviated anxiety via increased D ↔ E transitions (cognitive-emotional integration), while dlPFC-tDCS attenuated pain through reduced D ↔ C shifts (cognitive-self-referential integration). These findings highlight both shared and distinct neuromodulatory effects of M1/dlPFC-tDCS, supporting their potential as preemptive strategies for persistent pain management.
经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）在疼痛管理方面显示出潜力，但其对持续性疼痛的保护功效仍未得到充分探索。本研究调查了对初级运动皮层（M1）和背外侧前额叶皮层（dlPFC）进行预防性tDCS对减轻辣椒素诱导的持续性疼痛的保护作用。80名参与者在应用辣椒素之前接受了针对M1或dlPFC的tDCS，并记录了60分钟的脑电图。两种方案在减轻疼痛强度、焦虑和感觉运动β/γ振荡活动方面效果相当。微状态分析确定了五个典型微状态（A - E），它们与听觉、视觉、默认模式、背侧注意和突显网络有关。M1 - tDCS减少了微状态C（自我参照加工），同时增强了微状态D（认知控制），而dlPFC - tDCS抑制了微状态D的活动。从机制上讲，M1 - tDCS通过增加D ↔ E转换（认知 - 情绪整合）来减轻焦虑，而dlPFC - tDCS通过减少D ↔ C转换（认知 - 自我参照整合）来减轻疼痛。这些发现突出了M1/dlPFC - tDCS共同和独特的神经调节作用，支持了它们作为持续性疼痛管理的预防性策略的潜力。
