Figure 1:

The above-detailed figure shows how two interventions would maximize their effects in the neuromatrix of pain. tDCS is represented by yellow arrows, physical activity by green arrows, conditioned pain modulation by blue arrows and pain summation by grey arrows. The combined intervention would increase inhibitory activity from the thalamic regions to the subnucleus dorsalis reticularis and then to the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, which would increase the CPM response (enhancing descending inhibitory pain systems) and decrease the TSPS response (decreasing central sensitization). Moreover, it is expected that this effect is also mediated and enhanced by important cortical areas such as prefrontal cortex, cingulate cortex, insula, and somatosensory cortex. (SC: Spinal Cord)