| First Author | Lee KY | Year | 2020 |
| Journal | Neuroscience | Volume | 428 |
| Pages | 132-139 | PubMed ID | 31917342 |
| Mgi Jnum | J:291085 | Mgi Id | MGI:6405449 |
| Doi | 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.12.031 | Citation | Lee KY, et al. (2020) Low-intensity, Kilohertz Frequency Spinal Cord Stimulation Differently Affects Excitatory and Inhibitory Neurons in the Rodent Superficial Dorsal Horn. Neuroscience 428:132-139 |
| abstractText | Since 1967, spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been used to manage chronic intractable pain of the trunk and limbs. Compared to traditional high-intensity, low-frequency (<100Hz) SCS that is thought to produce paresthesia and pain relief by stimulating large myelinated fibers in the dorsal column (DC), low-intensity, high-frequency (10kHz) SCS has demonstrated long-term pain relief without generation of paresthesia. To understand this paresthesia-free analgesic mechanism of 10kHz SCS, we examined whether 10kHz SCS at intensities below sensory thresholds would modulate spinal dorsal horn (DH) neuronal function in a neuron type-dependent manner. By using in vivo and ex vivo electrophysiological approaches, we found that low-intensity (sub-sensory threshold) 10kHz SCS, but not 1kHz or 5kHz SCS, selectively activates inhibitory interneurons in the spinal DH. This study suggests that low-intensity 10kHz SCS may inhibit pain sensory processing in the spinal DH by activating inhibitory interneurons without activating DC fibers, resulting in paresthesia-free pain relief. |
