Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36670176›Full record

Trial reportScientific reports2023

Exploring electroencephalographic infraslow neurofeedback treatment for chronic low back pain: a double-blinded safety and feasibility randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Divya Bharatkumar Adhia, Ramakrishnan Mani, Jerin Mathew, Finella O'Leary, Mark Smith, Sven Vanneste, Dirk De Ridder

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Scientific reports, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.7field-weighted citation impact, top 7% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 21 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. A home-based EEG neurofeedback treatment for chronic neuropathic pain-a pilot study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  12. Neurofeedback: new territories and neurocognitive mechanisms of endogenous neuromodulation.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2024
    Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Divya Bharatkumar AdhiaDepartment of Surgical Sciences, Otago Medical School, University of Otago, PO BOX 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand. divya.adhia@otago.ac.nz.
Ramakrishnan ManiPain@Otago Research Theme, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Jerin MathewDepartment of Physiotherapy, Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
Finella O'LearyDepartment of Surgical Sciences, Otago Medical School, University of Otago, PO BOX 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
Mark SmithNeurofeedback Therapy Services of New York, New York, NY, USA.
Sven VannesteGlobal Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Dirk De RidderDepartment of Surgical Sciences, Otago Medical School, University of Otago, PO BOX 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand.
University of Otago · NZBehavioral Health Services · USManipal Academy of Higher Education · INTrinity College Dublin · IE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a disabling condition worldwide. In CLBP, neuroimaging studies demonstrate abnormal activities in cortical areas responsible for pain modulation, emotional, and sensory components of pain experience [i.e., pregenual and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (pgACC, dACC), and somatosensory cortex (SSC), respectively]. This pilot study, conducted in a university setting, evaluated the feasibility, safety, and acceptability of a novel electroencephalography-based infraslow-neurofeedback (EEG ISF-NF) technique for retraining activities in pgACC, dACC and SSC and explored its effects on pain and disability. Participants with CLBP (n = 60), recruited between July'20 to March'21, received 12 sessions of either: ISF-NF targeting pgACC, dACC + SSC, a ratio of pgACC*2/dACC + SSC, or Placebo-NF. Descriptive statistics demonstrated that ISF-NF training is feasible [recruitment rate (7 participants/month), dropouts (25%; 20-27%), and adherence (80%; 73-88%)], safe (no adverse events reported), and was moderate to highly acceptable [Mean ± SD: 7.8 ± 2.0 (pgACC), 7.5 ± 2.7 (dACC + SCC), 8.2 ± 1.9 (Ratio), and 7.7 ± 1.5 (Placebo)]. ISF-NF targeting pgACC demonstrated the most favourable clinical outcomes, with a higher proportion of participants exhibiting a clinically meaningful reduction in pain severity [53%; MD (95% CI): - 1.9 (- 2.7, - 1.0)], interference [80%; MD (95% CI): - 2.3 (- 3.5, - 1.2)], and disability [73%; MD (95% CI): - 4.5 (- 6.1, - 2.9)] at 1-month follow-up. ISF-NF training is a feasible, safe, and an acceptable treatment approach for CLBP.

Indexed as

Chronic PainLow Back PainNeurofeedbackElectroencephalographyFeasibility StudiesHumansPilot Projects

Identifiers

PMID36670176
PMCPMC9860016
OpenAlexW4317549154

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.