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Effects of experimental pain on jaw muscle activity during goal-directed jaw movements in humans

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Abstract

To study the effects of masseter muscle pain on jaw muscle electromyographic (EMG) activity during goal-directed tasks. Mandibular movement was tracked and EMG activity was recorded from bilateral masseter, and right posterior temporalis, anterior digastric, and inferior head of lateral pterygoid muscles in 22 asymptomatic subjects at postural jaw position, and during three tasks: (a) protrusion, (b) contralateral (left), (c) open jaw movement. Tasks were performed during three conditions: control (no infusion), test 1 [continuous infusion into right masseter of 4.5% hypertonic saline to achieve 30–60 mm pain intensity on 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS)], and test 2 (isotonic saline infusion; in 16 subjects only); the sequence of hypertonic and isotonic saline was randomized. The average EMG root-mean-square values at 0.5 mm increments of mid-incisor-point displacement were analysed using linear mixed effects model statistics (significance: P < 0.05). Right masseter hypertonic saline infusion resulted in significantly (P < 0.0005) more pain (mean ± SD VAS 47.3 ± 14.3 mm) than isotonic infusion (12.2 ± 17.3 mm). Although there was evidence of inter-subject variation, the principal EMG findings were that the significant effects of hypertonic saline-induced pain on EMG activity varied with the task in which the muscle participated irrespective of whether the muscle was an agonist or an antagonist in the tasks. The direction of the hypertonic saline-induced pain effect on EMG activity (i.e., whether the hypertonic saline-induced EMG activity was less than or greater than control EMG activity) could change with the magnitude of jaw displacement. Hypertonic saline infusion had no significant effect on postural EMG activity in any of the recorded jaw muscles. The data suggest that under constrained goal-directed tasks, the pattern of pain-induced changes in jaw muscle EMG activity is not clear cut, but can vary with the task performed, jaw displacement magnitude, and the subject being studied.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (Grants #302005, 512309), the Dental Board of NSW, the Australian Dental Research Foundation, Inc, and by CIHR grant MT-4918. Dr. Daraporn Sae-Lee was the recipient of an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) sponsored by the Australian Government. Some of the data in this paper forms part of her PhD thesis. We also acknowledge the Department of Radiology, Westmead Hospital, for the CT scans. Dr Barry Sessle is the recipient of a Canada Research Chair.

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  1. Daraporn Sae-Lee

    Present address: Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, 400002, Thailand

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jaw Function and Orofacial Pain Research Unit, Faculty of Dentistry, Professorial Unit, Level 3, Westmead Hospital Centre for Oral Health, University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia

    Daraporn Sae-Lee, Terry Whittle, Anna R. C. Forte, Christopher C. Peck & Greg M. Murray

  2. Westmead Millenium Institute, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia

    Karen Byth

  3. Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, 124 Edward Street, Toronto, ON, M5G 1G6, Canada

    Barry J. Sessle

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  1. Daraporn Sae-Lee
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Correspondence to Greg M. Murray.

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Sae-Lee, D., Whittle, T., Forte, A.R.C. et al. Effects of experimental pain on jaw muscle activity during goal-directed jaw movements in humans. Exp Brain Res 189, 451–462 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-008-1439-0

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