{"id":140,"date":"2023-05-26T16:04:55","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T15:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/?p=140"},"modified":"2025-01-16T09:14:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T09:14:39","slug":"elucidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/elucidate\/","title":{"rendered":"ELUCIDATE: Exploring pain & autonomic dysfunction in ME\/CFS & TMD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We are currently looking for people in the northeast of England with ME\/CFS, Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD), or neither of these conditions to take part in this study. If you are interested in taking part, please email james.allison@newcastle.ac.uk<\/a> for more information.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summary of the study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Widespread pain affecting the muscles and joints is a significant problem for people with myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME\/CFS), and has a huge impact on their everyday activities and quality of life. While central sensitisation in the brain and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) are thought to play a role, the precise mechanisms involved are not yet known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Temporomandibular disorders (TMD) are a group of musculoskeletal conditions affecting the muscles that move the jaw. They cause pain in the face and jaw, and are more common in ME\/CFS than in the general population. Preliminary work suggests that the link between ME\/CFS and TMDs may be due to a common underlying problem affecting the ANS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ANS controls many of the unconscious activities of the body such as breathing, heart rate and the circulation of blood. It is known to work less well in ME\/CFS, and is worse still when TMD is also present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"James
James Allison, investigator on the Elucidate study sets up EEG equipment in the lab.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The aim of this study is to explore how brain activity in response to pain is different in these conditions and whether the ANS plays a part. We will use electroencephalography (EEG), which measures the electrical activity of the brain, to assess the brain\u2019s response to painful pressure applied to the finger and jaw in people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • with ME\/CFS only<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • with both ME\/CFS and TMD<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • with TMD only<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • without ME\/CFS or TMD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    We will also use non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve to modulate the ANS, and to measure the effect this has on brain activity in response to pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We hope that this study will help inform future treatments for pain in ME\/CFS and TMD by identifying where in the brain any differences occur, and what part the ANS plays.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We are currently looking for people in the northeast of England with ME\/CFS, Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD), or neither of these conditions to take part in this study. If you are interested in taking part, please email james.allison@newcastle.ac.uk for more information. Summary of the study Widespread pain affecting the muscles and joints is a significant problem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8160,"featured_media":195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"templates\/template-cover.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":699,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/painresearch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}