Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAIN
Volume 18, Issue 4, Pages 482-488Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/j.1532-2149.2013.00388.x
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- University of Strasbourg
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BackgroundExperimental data regarding age effects on sensitivity and pain thresholds are not always consistent, with the type of stimulus being a major source of variability. This could suggest that some types of peripheral sensory fibres undergo more important modifications with age than others. We investigated whether ageing affects differently myelinated and unmyelinated fibres. MethodsSomatosensitivity and pain perception and recorded somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) were assessed in younger and older adults during the selective activation of either myelinated A- or unmyelinated C-fibres. ResultsSomatosensitivity for information transmitted and SEPs elicited by stimulation of C-fibres did not differ between both groups. In contrast, pain perception was lower in older than in younger adults, and older adults showed longer SEP latencies and reduced peak-to-peak amplitude, during selective stimulation of A-fibres. ConclusionsThese findings suggest that myelinated A-fibres are compromised by the normal ageing process, whereas unmyelinated C-fibres seem to remain unaltered or, at least, less affected.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available