Evaluation of brain activity of excessive attention associated with chronic pain in athletes and construction of evaluation index for early return to competition.

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K11479
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: Niigata University of Health and Welfare
• Principal Investigator: YAMASHIRO KOYA 新潟医療福祉大学, 健康科学部, 准教授 (20570782)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 佐藤 大輔 新潟医療福祉大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (60544393) ; 大森 豪 新潟医療福祉大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (70283009) ; 山崎 史恵 新潟医療福祉大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (80410273)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 体性感覚誘発電位 / 体性感覚二連発抑制 / PVAQ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Attention to pain increases neural activity to painful stimuli, and the same stimuli cause more pain. We speculate that the chronic pain that persists in athletes after a torn muscle or a fatigue fracture may be caused by an abnormality in the attentional function, which is one of the causes of chronic pain. Therefore, in this study, we hypothesized that "chronic pain in athletes is caused by an excessive attentional function due to injury," and tested this hypothesis. We assessed athletes' selective attentional function for pain using a questionnaire called PVAQ. The results revealed that athletes had high selective attention to pain regardless of the presence or absence of chronic pain. EEG was also recorded, indicating that the inhibitory function in somatosensory cortex may be reduced in chronic pain athletes.

Free Research Field

神経生理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

スポーツで起こった肉離れや疲労骨折などの治癒後に起こる慢性的な痛みに関する診断や治療は積極的に焦点化されていない．しかし、今回用いたPVAQという質問紙と脳内抑制の２つを評価することによりアスリートの慢性疼痛を一部評価できる可能性を示した。つまり、脳波を用いた客観的な判断基準を用いて，アスリートの状態に応じた多面的なアプローチを実施できる。