Pain suppresses corticospinal excitability, independent of tactile afferent inhibition.

Overview

Authors: Louisa Gwynne¹, Luigi Tamè¹

ORCID iDs: Louisa Gwynne, Luigi Tamè

School of Psychology, Keynes College, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NP, United Kingdom

Institutions: University of Kent (United Kingdom)

Journal: Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), volume 36, issue 4, article bhag041

Dates: received 27 August 2025; accepted 9 March 2026; published online 16 April 2026; in print April 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhag041 · PMID 41990114 · PMCID PMC13089548 · OpenAlex W7154571480

Open access: hybrid, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: data only

Categories: other (modality), human (organism), pain (population), cellular / molecular (subfield)

Methods: Statistics, Preprocessing, Evoked potentials

Keywords: afferent inhibition, corticospinal excitability, pain, sensorimotor interaction

MeSH: Neural Inhibition*, Pain*, Pyramidal Tracts*, Touch*, Adult, Afferent Pathways, Electric Stimulation, Electromyography, Evoked Potentials, Motor, Female, Fingers, Hot Temperature, Humans, Male, Physical Stimulation, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Young Adult (* major topic)

Topic: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies (Neurology, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex

Funding: Doctoral Training Partnership (ES/P00072X/1); South East Network for Social Sciences; Economic and Social Research Council

Citations: cited by 1 paper (Europe PMC); 60 references in the paper

Abstract

Pain can profoundly impact motor functioning to support self-preservation, yet its influence on the interaction between tactile input and corticospinal excitability (CSE) remains unclear. Across two experiments, a short- and long-latency afferent inhibition (AI) paradigm examined (i) whether tactile AI is modulated in the presence of tonic pain and (ii) the effect of pain on CSE in the presence of tactile afferent stimulation. In experiment 1, a single electrotactile stimulus (0.2- or 0.4-ms duration) was delivered to the index finger at one of six intervals (15 to 160 ms) before transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the ipsilateral first dorsal interosseous (FDI) hotspot. In experiment 2, the same procedure was tested during moderate, tonic forearm heat pain. Both experiments showed significant AI at 25, 35, and 160 ms delays, with facilitation at 60 ms. This effect was not influenced by the duration of afferent stimulation (experiment 1) nor by tonic heat pain (experiment 2). However, CSE was significantly reduced in painful compared to painless conditions (P = 0.021, η2p = 0.132), indicating that while tonic pain modulates CSE, tactile afferent inhibition is unaffected. These findings show an inhibitory effect of pain on motor output that, in this context, occurs alongside preserved tactile-motor interactions.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

osf:nhkm4 — at OSF; found in “Data availability”

Data availability

Raw data are openly available on OSF (https://osf.io/nhkm4/).

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 1, 28 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 2 authors, 4 keywords, 17 MeSH terms, 3 funders, 60 references.

Cite

This paper

Gwynne, L., & Tamè, L. (2026). Pain suppresses corticospinal excitability, independent of tactile afferent inhibition. Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 36(4), bhag041. https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag041

BibTeX

@article{gwynne2026pain, author = {Gwynne, Louisa and Tamè, Luigi}, title = {{Pain suppresses corticospinal excitability, independent of tactile afferent inhibition}}, journal = {Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)}, year = {2026}, month = apr, volume = {36}, number = {4}, pages = {bhag041}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, issn = {1047-3211}, doi = {10.1093/cercor/bhag041}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag041}, pmid = {41990114}, pmcid = {PMC13089548} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Gwynne, Louisa AU - Tamè, Luigi TI - Pain suppresses corticospinal excitability, independent of tactile afferent inhibition T2 - Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) J2 - Cereb Cortex PY - 2026 DA - 2026/04/01 VL - 36 IS - 4 SP - bhag041 SN - 1047-3211 PB - Oxford University Press DO - 10.1093/cercor/bhag041 UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhag041 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

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