Modulation of pain perception by neuronavigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the cerebellum

Background: Chronic pain syndromes often constitute a therapeutic dilemma characterized by drug resistance or abuse of pain relievers like opiods while pain relief is most often unsatisfactory in these patients. Frequently, the course of the disease ends up in disablement. Therefore, development of new therapeutic strategies are necessary. In the last years, many studies have contributed to a better understanding of the underlying neurobiological processes involved in pain perception. According to this concept, a complex cortical-subcortical network called „pain neuromatrix“ is involved in pain processing (1). B…