Body perception and cortical reorganisation in CRPS (Version 1)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Body perception and cortical reorganisation in Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: an EEG study
IRAS ID
242946
Contact name
Nicholas Shenker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a very disabling condition of the central nervous system. Patients with CRPS typically report long-term pain in a confined body area such as a hand or a leg. CRPS primarily affects women and the elderly and is linked to depression, anxiety and unemployment. It is typical that patients experience a range of different symptoms such as changes of skin colour and body temperature perception, motor disorders and distortions of body perception. There is evidence from our group (Kuttikat et al., J Pain, 2017) and others (e.g., Pleger et al., Ann Neurol, 2005) that CRPS patients suffer from altered perception of touch. Our recent work suggests that these misperceptions can be used to improve the diagnosis of CRPS (Kuttikat et al., J Pain, 2017). \n\nBased on these findings, we are planning to look at the brain mechanisms of altered perception of touch in individuals with CRPS. To this end, we plan to recruit CRPS patients and healthy control participants for a sequence of bedside clinical tests involving an EEG recording at the Cambridge University Hospitals. During the experiment, participants will fill out questionnaires to assess their level of pain, function, and mood. We will record an EEG while we present the participants with soft non-nociceptive stimuli (i.e., stimuli which do not trigger receptor cells in the skin typically leading to pain) which were previously successfully trialed in Kuttikat et al., J Pain, (2017). This will enable us to look at differences in how the brain processes touch in CRPS and in healthy control participants. We envision that our study will contribute to characterizing brain changes of sensory perception in CRPS to improve the diagnosis of the condition.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SW/0074
Date of REC Opinion
3 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion