Neurostimulation therapy (acupuncture-like) and long-term depression: A challenge for the clinical neurophysiologist

Neurostimulation therapy is nowadays increasingly being usedcin several conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, dystonia, obsessive–compulsive disorder and refractory pain. Particularly in pain, neurostimulation has a long story. Derived from folk tradition, the notion that rubbing the skin over a painful area relieves pain found scientific support in the ‘gate-control theory’, proposed by Melzack and Wall (1965). Since then, the use of electrical stimulations for pain relief has spread worldwide, with many different techniques and labels – the most well known being transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). A quick search of electronic databases reveals that over 1000 published studies have been dealing with some form of TENS for pain relief.