Zahra Asiri / Mathematics / Faculty Mentor: Pedro Maia
Chronic pain is a major clinical challenge due to its complex neural basis and limited treatment options. This study investigates how electrical stimulation affects neural activity in pain-related brain regions using electrophysiological recordings from rodent brains. Stimulation was applied with varying frequencies (1Hz, 50Hz, 100Hz) and intensities (5V, 10V, 50V, 100V) across four brain regions: the cingulate cortex, bilateral amygdala, and ventral tegmental area.
Neural activity was first recorded during a 5-minute baseline before inducing pain via formalin injection. After a 20-minute wait, 12 electrical stimulations were applied, each followed by a 3-minute rest (Rest1–Rest12). We aimed to identify which rest phase most closely resembled the baseline and to rank rest phases by similarity.
A distance-based statistical framework was used to compare intra- and inter-condition variability. Sampling and segmentation were used to handle the large dataset, and Fisher’s method combined p-values across time windows for robust analysis.
Results show that electrical stimulation parameters influence neural recovery. The final stimulation (100Hz, 100V) led to the closest return to baseline, suggesting that high-frequency, high-intensity stimulation may stabilize neural activity. These findings inform future neurostimulation strategies for pain treatment.”
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