Effect of tonic pain on motor acquisition and retention while learning to reach in a force field

Most patients receiving intensive rehabilitation to improve their upper limb function experience pain. Despite this, the impact of pain on the ability to learn a specific motor task is still unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether the presence of experimental tonic pain interferes wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-06, Vol.9 (6), p.e99159-e99159
Main Authors: Lamothe, Mélanie, Roy, Jean-Sébastien, Bouffard, Jason, Gagné, Martin, Bouyer, Laurent J, Mercier, Catherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation
Adaptation, Physiological - drug effects
Administration, Topical
Adult
Biology and Life Sciences
Capsaicin
Capsaicin - administration & dosage
Cream
Deviation
Elbow
Exoskeleton
Exoskeleton Device
Exoskeletons
Female
Humans
Influence
Learning
Learning - drug effects
Male
Medicine and Health Sciences
Motor skill learning
Muscle pain
Pain
Pain - drug therapy
Pain - physiopathology
Pain - psychology
Pain management
Physiology
Rehabilitation
Retention
Retention (Psychology) - drug effects
Sensory System Agents - administration & dosage
Studies
Training
Trajectory analysis
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Upper Extremity - physiopathology
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Summary:Most patients receiving intensive rehabilitation to improve their upper limb function experience pain. Despite this, the impact of pain on the ability to learn a specific motor task is still unknown. The aim of this study was to determine whether the presence of experimental tonic pain interferes with the acquisition and retention stages of motor learning associated with training in a reaching task. Twenty-nine healthy subjects were randomized to either a Control or Pain Group (receiving topical capsaicin cream on the upper arm during training on Day 1). On two consecutive days, subjects made ballistic movements towards two targets (NEAR/FAR) using a robotized exoskeleton. On Day 1, the task was performed without (baseline) and with a force field (adaptation). The adaptation task was repeated on Day 2. Task performance was assessed using index distance from the target at the end of the reaching movement. Motor planning was assessed using initial angle of deviation of index trajectory from a straight line to the target. Results show that tonic pain did not affect baseline reaching. Both groups improved task performance across time (p
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0099159