Moving in an environment of induced sensorimotor incongruence does not influence pain sensitivity in healthy volunteers: a randomised within-subject experiment.

Objectives: It has been proposed that in the same way that conflict between vestibular and visual inputs leads to motion sickness, conflict between motor commands and sensory information associated with these commands may contribute to some chronic pain states. Attempts to test this hypothesis by artificially inducing a state of sensorimotor incongruence and assessing self-reported pain have yielded equivocal results. To help clarify the effect sensorimotor incongruence has on pain we investigated the effect of moving in an environment of induced incongruence on pressure pain thresholds (PPT) and the pain experienced immediately on completion of PPT testing.

Assessing self-perception in patients with chronic low back pain: development of a back-specific body-perception questionnaire.

Background: There is considerable interest in the role that disturbance of body-perception may play in long standing pain problems such as chronic low back pain (CLBP), both as a contributor to the clinical condition and as a potential target for treatment. In some chronic pain conditions body-perception has been investigated using self-report questionnaires. There is currently no questionnaire for assessing body-perception in people with CLBP.

Illusory touch temporarily improves sensation in areas of chronic numbness: a brief communication.

Background: Creating the visual illusion of touch can improve tactile perception in healthy subjects.

Objective: We were interested in seeing if creating the illusion of touch in an insensate area could improve sensation in that area.

Methods: Fourteen people with chronic numbness participated in a randomized crossover experiment.

Mislocalization of sensory information in people with chronic low back pain: a preliminary investigation.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to establish if people with chronic low back pain (CLBP) demonstrate impairments in the ability to localize sensory information delivered to the back more than pain-free controls and determine whether any sensory abnormalities are related to pain-related variables.

Methods: Vision was occluded and participants were stimulated using light touch or pinprick over a number of body areas in random order. To assess for mislocalizations participants were asked to nominate the location of each stimulus in reference to a marked body chart.

Seeing it helps: movement-related back pain is reduced by visualization of the back during movement.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine whether visualization of the back influenced parameters of movement-related pain in people with chronic nonspecific low back pain.

Methods: We used a randomized cross-over experiment in which 25 participants performed repeated lumbar spine movements under 2 conditions. In the visual feedback condition, patients were able to visualize their back as it moved by the use of mirrors.