BioMedical Engineering Conference 2025

At BioMedical Engineering Conference 2025 held in Glasgow on Sept 4th to 5th, I presented my poster on whether Mismatch Negativity (MMN) is a marker of central neuropathic pain Intensity in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) - these are results from a home-based pilot study.

Abstract: 

Cross-sectional studies have shown that pain affects brain activity in Central Neuropathic Pain. However, more studies are needed to establish if mismatch negativity (MMN) is a biomarker for pain intensity. This work aims to determine whether the changes in MMN, i.e., amplitude and latency, is predictive of change in central neuropathic pain intensity due to medication.

In this longitudinal study, ten people with spinal cord injury-related central neuropathic pain recorded their response to MMN experiment using home-based self-guided EEG set-up for ten days both before and after taking medications over a period of several weeks. We found that the change in MMN was not predictive of change in central neuropathic pain intensity due to medications.

Conclusions: Duration-deviant or Frequency-deviant Mismatch Negativity was not able to detect self reported central neuropathic pain intensity. So we conclude that MMN may not be a surrogate or pharmacodynamic marker of Central Neuropathic Pain in people with Spinal Cord Injury.

Reference:

[1] Pradeep D, Neha Ramu, Omkar Solankey, Rab Nawaz, Mariel Purcell, Shannon Diggin, Euan McCaughey, Aleksandra Vuckovic, "Is Mismatch Negativity a Marker of Central Neuropathic Pain Intensity in Spinal Cord Injury: A Home-Based Pilot Study", CPNN+ Neurofeedback Workshop, June 19-20, 2025, Glasgow, UK