scholarly journals Interaction Between Sex and Cardiac Interoceptive Accuracy in Measures of Induced Pain

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eszter Ferentzi ◽  
Mattis Geiger ◽  
Sandra A. Mai-Lippold ◽  
Ferenc Köteles ◽  
Christian Montag ◽  
...  

Pain perception is influenced by several factors, and among them, affect, sex, and perception of bodily signals are assumed to play a prominent role. The aim of the present study is to explore how sex, cardiac interoceptive accuracy, and the interaction of the latter two influence the perception of experimentally induced pain. We investigated a large sample of young adults (n = 159, 50.9% female, age: 23.45, SD = 3.767), assessing current positive and negative affective state with the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (both involved as control variables), cardiac interoceptive accuracy with the mental heartbeat tracking task, and pain sensitivity with electrical stimulation on the back of the dominant hand, applying a repeated-measures staircase protocol. Males showed a significantly higher pain threshold and tolerance level than females, whereas cardiac interoceptive accuracy was not associated with pain sensitivity. The impact of sex × cardiac interoceptive accuracy interaction was significant for pain threshold only, while pain tolerance was predicted only by sex. According to these findings, the associations between pain sensitivity, cardiac IAc, and sex might be more complicated than it was supposed in previous studies. Interactions between factors impacting pain perception appear worthy of further investigation.

1965 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 675-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Berthold Wolff ◽  
Norman A. Krasnegor ◽  
Roberta S. Farr

The differential effects of permissive and non-permissive instructions upon pain threshold and pain tolerance were studied in 43 healthy human Ss, using cutaneous electrical stimulation. Non-permissive instructions resulted in very significant increases in both pain tolerance and pain sensitivity range, but no significant changes were observed for both pain threshold and detection threshold. Therefore, Gelfand's hypothesis, stating that pain threshold and pain tolerance have differential loadings of physiological and psychological components, was supported. It was also found that the left or non-dominant hand was consistently more sensitive to pain than the right hand. This result is consistent with Wolff's and Jarvik's suggestion that lateral dominance is important in pain perception.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Stephens ◽  
Olly May Robertson

Background: This pre-registered study extends previous findings that swearing alleviates pain tolerance by assessing the effects of a conventional swear word (“fuck”) and two new “swear” words, “fouch” and “twizpipe”.Method: A mixed sex group of participants (N = 92) completed a repeated measures experimental design augmented by mediation analysis. The independent variable was Word with the levels, “fuck” v. “fouch” v. “twizpipe” v. a neutral word. The dependent variables were emotion rating, humour rating, distraction rating, cold pressor pain threshold, cold pressor pain tolerance, pain perception score and change from resting heart rate. Possible mediation effects were assessed for emotion, humour and distraction ratings. Results: For conventional swearing (“fuck”), confirmatory analyses found a 32% increase in pain threshold and a 33% increase in pain tolerance, accompanied by increased ratings for emotion, humour and distraction, relative to the neutral word condition. The new “swear” words, “fouch” and “twizpipe” were rated higher than the neutral word for emotion and humour although these words did not affect pain threshold or tolerance. Changes in heart rate, pain perception and were absent, as were mediation effects.Conclusions: Our data replicate previous findings that repeating a swear word at a steady pace and volume benefits pain tolerance, extending this finding to pain threshold. Our data cannot explain how such effects are manifest, although distraction appears to be of little importance, and emotion is worthy of future study. The new “swear” words did not alleviate pain even though participants rated them as emotion evoking and humorous.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliann Saquib ◽  
Haneen A. AlMohaimeed ◽  
Sally A. AlOlayan ◽  
Nora A. AlRebdi ◽  
Jana I. AlBulaihi ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives Scientific evidence suggests that virtual reality (VR) could potentially help patients tolerate painful medical procedures and conditions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of virtual reality on pain tolerance and threshold. Methods A within-subjects experimental study design was conducted on 53 female students at Qassim University in Saudi Arabia. Each participant completed three rounds of assessment: one baseline (no VR) and two VR immersion (passive and interactive) in random order sequence. During each round, participants submerged their non-dominant hand into an ice bath; pain threshold and tolerance were measured as outcomes and analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results Participants had both higher pain threshold and tolerance during interactive and passive VR rounds in comparison to the non-VR baseline assessment (p<0.05). Participants had greater pain tolerance during the interactive VR condition compared to the passive VR condition (p<0.001). Conclusions VR experiences increase pain threshold and tolerance with minimal side effects, and the larger effects were demonstrated using interactive games. Interactive VR gaming should be considered and tested as a treatment for pain.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 104-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Duschek ◽  
Heike Heiss ◽  
Boriana Buechner ◽  
Rainer Schandry

Recent studies have revealed evidence for increased pain sensitivity in individuals with chronically low blood pressure. The present trial explored whether pain sensitivity can be reduced by pharmacological elevation of blood pressure. Effects of the sympathomimetic midodrine on threshold and tolerance to heat pain were examined in 52 hypotensive persons (mean blood pressure 96/61 mmHg) based on a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind design. Heat stimuli were applied to the forearm via a contact thermode. Confounding of drug effects on pain perception with changes in skin temperature, temperature sensitivity, and mood were statistically controlled for. Compared to placebo, higher pain threshold and tolerance, increased blood pressure, as well as reduced heart rate were observed under the sympathomimetic condition. Increases in systolic blood pressure between points of measurement correlated positively with increases in pain threshold and tolerance, and decreases in heart rate were associated with increases in pain threshold. The findings underline the causal role of hypotension in the augmented pain sensitivity related to this condition. Pain reduction as a function of heart rate decrease suggests involvement of a baroreceptor-related mechanism in the pain attrition. The increased proneness of persons with chronic hypotension toward clinical pain is discussed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
Pratik Akhani ◽  
Samir Mendpara ◽  
Bhupendra Palan

Background: Pain is one of the most common reasons for patients to seek medical attention and it causes considerable human suffering. Pain is a complex perception that differs enormously among individual patients. Gender plays an important role in how pain is experienced, coped with and treated. Even young healthy individuals often differ in how they perceive and cope with pain. This study was done to investigate gender differences in response to experimental pain among medical students from a western state in India. Methods: A total of 150 medical students (86 males and 64 females) participated in this interventional study. The Cold Pressor Test was used to exert experimental pain. To study the response, cardiovascular measures (radial pulse, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure) and pain sensitivity parameters (pain threshold, pain tolerance and pain rating) were assessed. Results: No significant difference was found in cardiovascular response to experimental pain between both the genders (p>0.05). Pain threshold and pain tolerance were found to be significantly higher in males whereas pain rating was found to be significantly higher in females (p<0.01). Pulse reactivity showed a negative relationship with pain threshold and pain tolerance whereas a positive relationship with pain rating, however no statistically significant relation was found between these measures. Conclusion: Females display greater pain sensitivity than males. Different pain perception might account for gender difference in pulse reactivity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 1597-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Koenig ◽  
J. F. Thayer ◽  
M. Kaess

Individuals engaging in self-injurious behavior (SIB) frequently report absence of pain during acts of SIB. While altered pain sensitivity is discussed as a risk factor for the engagement in SIB, results have been mixed with considerable variance across reported effect sizes, in particular with respect to the effect of co-morbid psychopathology. The present meta-analysis aimed to summarize the current evidence on pain sensitivity in individuals engaging in SIB and to identify covariates of altered pain processing. Three databases were searched without restrictions. Additionally a hand search was performed and reference lists of included studies were checked for potential studies eligible for inclusion. Thirty-two studies were identified after screening 720 abstracts by two independent reviewers. Studies were included if they reported (i) an empirical investigation, in (ii) humans, including a sample of individuals engaging in (iii) SIB and a group of (iv) healthy controls, (v) receiving painful stimulation. Random-effects meta-analysis was performed on three pain-related outcomes (pain threshold, pain tolerance, pain intensity) and several population- and study-level covariates (i.e. age, sex, clinical etiology) were subjected to meta-regression. Meta-analysis revealed significant main effects associated with medium to large effect sizes for all included outcomes. Individuals engaging in SIB show greater pain threshold and tolerance and report less pain intensity compared to healthy controls. Clinical etiology and age are significant covariates of pain sensitivity in individuals engaging in SIB, such that pain threshold is further increased in borderline personality disorder compared to non-suicidal self-injury. Mechanisms underlying altered pain sensitivity are discussed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 2130-2130
Author(s):  
O. Bonnot ◽  
S. Tordjman

We will propose a critical review of the scientific literature regarding pain and schizophrenia, examine the empirical basis for the reported pain insensitivity of schizophrenia, and emphasize the distinction between behavioral responses to pain or self-reported pain and physiological response to painful stimuli. Litterature is scarse and could be classified in 4 groups: case reports (n = 9), clinical studies (n = 23), experimental research (n = 20) and review articles (n = 5).The analysis of Case reports and clinical studies show reduced pain reactivity in patients with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls or other psychiatric patients. In the same vein, experimental studies using self-report measures of pain reactivity generally reported higher pain perception thresholds in patients with schizophrenia. However, the only experimental study using a neurophysiological measure of pain reactivity (the nociceptive RIII reflex) demonstrated a normal pain threshold in schizophrenia.Review of clinical and experimental data indicates that in most situations behavioral pain reactivity and self-reported responses to pain are reduced in schizophrenia. However, there is little or no physiological evidence supporting pain insensitivity in schizophrenia. It can be suggested that the widely accepted notion of reduced pain sensitivity in schizophrenia is related more to a different mode of pain expression than to a real endogenous analgesia. We will also present preliminary data on pain sensitivity associating behavioural pain reactivity measurements, "objective" electrophysiological assessments and neurovegetative function recordings. Our results are in the line of the literature and strongly suggest that there is no analgesia in schizophrenia but a different mode of pain expression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isa Amalie Olofsson ◽  
Jeppe Hvedstrup ◽  
Katrine Falkenberg ◽  
Mona Ameri Chalmer ◽  
Henrik Winther Schytz ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Headache affects 90–99% of the population. Based on the question “Do you think that you never ever in your whole life have had a headache?” 4% of the population say that they have never experienced a headache. The rarity of never having had a headache suggests that distinct biological and environmental factors may be at play. We hypothesized that people who have never experienced a headache had a lower general pain sensitivity than controls. Methods We included 99 male participants, 47 headache free participants and 52 controls, in an observer blinded nested case-control study. We investigated cold pain threshold and heat pain threshold using a standardized quantitative sensory testing protocol, pericranial tenderness with total tenderness score and pain tolerance with the cold pressor test. Differences between the two groups were assessed with the unpaired Student’s t-test or Mann-Whitney U test as appropriate. Results There was no difference in age, weight or mean arterial pressure between headache free participants and controls. We found no difference in pain detection threshold, pericranial tenderness or pain tolerance between headache free participants and controls. Conclusion Our study clearly shows that freedom from headache is not caused by a lower general pain sensitivity. The results support the hypothesis that headache is caused by specific mechanisms, which are present in the primary headache disorders, rather than by a decreased general sensitivity to painful stimuli. Trial registration Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04217616), 3rd January 2020, retrospectively registered.


2020 ◽  
pp. 194173812095316
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Maciejewska-Skrendo ◽  
Maciej Pawlak ◽  
Agata Leońska-Duniec ◽  
Alina Jurewicz ◽  
Mariusz Kaczmarczyk ◽  
...  

Background: Pain is a characteristic, unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. Pain is a subjective sensation, modulated by many factors such as age, sex, emotional state, national origin, or physical activity. Moreover, it is closely associated with intense physical activity, injuries, and traumas, which can significantly modulate pain tolerance. Hypothesis: We postulate that there are correlations between past injuries, physical activity, and intensity of pain perception (pain threshold and pain tolerance) in a population of healthy men and women. Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: A total of 302 participants aged 18 to 32 years were included. The participants were divided into 2 groups (active and inactive individuals), in accordance with the scope of physical activity they had indicated. The test of pressure pain threshold and pressure pain tolerance was performed using an algometer. Results: Active women achieved significantly higher pain threshold and pain tolerance values in all measurements on the upper limb (except for the pain threshold on the left hand) compared with inactive women. In mediation analysis, the effect of injury remained significant only for the pressure pain tolerance in the dominant arm and the left hand in the female group. In the case of men, there were no significant differences in all measurements in view of the threshold and tolerance for pain between the groups of active and inactive and between men with injuries and without injuries. Conclusion: Intense, regular physical activity is a factor modulating the perception of pain. This was demonstrated as lowered sensitivity to pain stimuli in a population of healthy women. Clinical Relevance: Injuries should be treated as an important factor modulating the perception of pain. We recommend detailed monitoring of injuries during treatment and control of pain sensation.


1965 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Glenn Collins

Measures of pain threshold and pain tolerance were obtained on 62 Ss. Both measures were positively related to childhood protection and negatively related to childhood independence scores on a Childhood History Questionnaire.


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