Assessing the predictive value of peak alpha frequency for the sensitivity to pain

Pain perception varies considerably between and within individuals. How the brain determines these variations has yet to be fully understood. The peak frequency of alpha oscillations has recently been shown to predict an individual's sensitivity to longer-lasting experimental and clinical pain. Peak alpha frequency (PAF) is, thus, discussed as a potential biomarker and novel target for neuromodulatory treatments of pain. Here, we scrutinized the generalizability of the relation between PAF and pain. We applied brief painful laser stimuli to 159 healthy participants and related interindividual and intraindividual variations of pain perception to PAF measured with electroencephalography. Comprehensive multiverse analyses replicated across 2 sessions did not provide consistent evidence for a predictive role of PAF for brief experimental pain. This indicates that the relationship between PAF and pain does not generalize to all types of pain and calls for a systematic exploration of the relationship between PAF, pain perception, and other neuropsychiatric symptoms. Such explorations help to understand the prospects and limits of biomarkers and might guide future research on biomarkers of pain and neuropsychiatric disorders.