Cortical Mechanisms Underlying Immersive Interactive Virtual Walking Treatment for Amelioration of Neuropathic Pain after Spinal Cord Injury: Findings from a Preliminary Investigation of Thalamic Inhibitory Function.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury (SCI) affects approximately 60% of individuals with SCI. Effective pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments remain elusive. We recently demonstrated that our immersive virtual reality walking intervention (VRWalk) may be effective for SCI NP. Additionally, we found that SCI NP may result from a decrease in thalamic γ-aminobutyric-acid (GABA), which disturbs central sensorimotor processing.

Objective

While we identified GABAergic changes associated with SCI NP, a critical outstanding question is whether a decrease in SCI NP generated by our VRWalk intervention causes GABA content to rise.

Method

A subset of participants (n = 7) of our VRWalk trial underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopy pre- an

SUBMITTER: Gustin SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10488675 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature