Pain and masochistic behaviour: The role of descending modulation.

Background: The mechanisms of pain perception in individuals with masochistic behaviour (MB) remain poorly documented. We hypothesized that MB is associated with context-specific changes in descending pain modulation.

Methods: We compared the effects of four standardized sets of images with positive (erotic), negative (mutilations), masochistic or neutral emotional valences on the RIII nociceptive reflex evoked by electrical stimulation of the sural nerve and recorded on the ipsilateral biceps femoris in 15 controls and 15 men routinely engaging in MB.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for neuropathic pain: a randomized multicentre sham-controlled trial.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proposed to treat neuropathic pain but the quality of evidence remains low. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of neuronavigated rTMS to the primary motor cortex (M1) or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in neuropathic pain over 25 weeks. We carried out a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial at four outpatient clinics in France.

Hyperalgesia induced by low-dose opioid treatment before orthopaedic surgery: An observational case-control study.

Background: Chronic pain and opioid consumption may trigger diffuse hyperalgesia, but their relative contributions to pain vulnerability remain unclear.

Objectives: To assess preoperative opioid-induced hyperalgesia and its postoperative clinical consequences in patients with chronic pain scheduled for orthopaedic surgery.

Design: A prospective observational study.

Prolonged continuous theta-burst stimulation is more analgesic than 'classical' high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the primary motor cortex (M1) at high frequency (>5 Hz) induces analgesic effects, probably by activating pain modulation systems. A new rTMS paradigm--theta burst stimulation (TBS)--consists of bursts of three pulses at 50 Hz repeated five times per second. Like high frequency rTMS, both intermittent and prolonged continuous TBS (iTBS and pcTBS) lead to a facilitation of cortical excitability.

A new neuronal target for β-amyloid peptide in the rat hippocampus.

In Alzheimer's disease, amyloid beta peptide (Aβ) accumulation is associated with hippocampal network dysfunction. Intrahippocampal injections of Aβ induce aberrant inhibitory septohippocampal (SH) network activity in vivo and impairment of memory processing. In the present study, we observed, after hippocampal Aβ treatment, a selective loss of neurons projecting to the medial septum (MS) and containing calbindin (CB) and/or somatostatin (SOM).