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Brain, Brainstem, and Spinal Cord fMRI

CompletedNCT02356315
View the official record on ClinicalTrials.gov

Recruiting status changes often. Contact the study team listed on ClinicalTrials.gov, and talk to your doctor before joining a study.

This study has no listed site in Canada in this snapshot. It is included as part of the worldwide chronic pain corpus.

Brief summary (from the registry)

New advances in medical imaging have allowed for the measurement of brain activity related to chronic pain. In addition to the brain, the investigators aim to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate pain processing in the brainstem and spinal cord in healthy subjects and chronic neck pain patients. The information gained from this study will increase the investigators understanding of how chronic pain is encoded in the nervous system and assist in developing more effective treatment strategies.

Study details

Official title
Investigating Pain Processing in the Brain, Brainstem, and Spinal Cord With fMRI
Interventions
  • Other: Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Sponsor
Northwestern University
Collaborators
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Start date
2015-01
Primary completion
2015-12
Sex
All
Age range
from 21 Years to 60 Years
Healthy volunteers
true
Results posted
No results posted in this snapshot
Countries
United States
Total sites listed
1

Eligibility criteria

Show eligibility criteria (verbatim from the registry)
Healthy subjects must meet all of the following inclusion criteria to participate in this study: 1. Age between 21 and 60 years old 2. Right-handed; not currently experiencing significant pain 3. No history of a chronic pain syndrome such as fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, chronic low back pain, etc. Chronic neck pain patients must meet all of the following inclusion criteria to participate in this study: 1. Age between 21 and 60 years old 2. Right handed; neck pain \> 3 months duration; moderate neck pain score \> 30 on VAS (0-100) 3) No history of a chronic pain syndrome (fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, chronic low back pain, etc.) other than chronic neck pain and its associated symptoms. Participants meeting any of the following exclusion criteria at baseline will be excluded from study participation: 1. Non-English speaking 2. Signs of upper extremity sensation loss; history of significant cerebrovascular disease including (but not limited to) epilepsy, stroke, tumor, multiple sclerosis, meningitis 3. History of major head trauma with sustained loss of consciousness; history of neurosurgery, ENT surgery, spine surgery, or cardiac surgery 4. History of cardiac pacemaker or neurostimulator implantation 5. History of significant medical illness including cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, severe asthma requiring hospitalization for treatment, renal insufficiency requiring dialysis, etc. 6. History of alcoholism or consistent drug use; current infection or fever; pregnancy (or possible pregnancy) 7. History of metal working or injury with shrapnel or metal slivers 8. Claustrophobia 9. Piercings that are unable to be removed and tattoos older than 30 years

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov (US National Library of Medicine), snapshot October 2026. Check the registry for current recruiting status. Record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02356315