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Emotions increase or decrease pain':
researchers
Montreal, , 2009 – Getting a flu shot this fall? Canadian
scientists have found that focusing on a
pretty image could alleviate the sting of
that vaccine.
According to a new Université
de Montréal study, published in the latest
edition of the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),
negative and positive emotions have a direct
impact on pain.
"Emotions – or mood – can alter how we react to pain since
they're interlinked," says lead author
Mathieu Roy, who completed the study as a
Université de Montréal PhD student and is
now a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia
University.
"Our tests revealed when pain is
perceived by our brain and how that pain can
be amplified when combined with negative
emotions."
As part of the study, 13 subjects were recruited to undergo
small yet painful electric shocks, which
caused knee-jerk reactions controlled by the
spine that could be measured. During the
fMRI process, subjects were shown a
succession of images that were either
pleasant (i.e. summer water-skiing),
unpleasant (i.e. a vicious bear) or neutral
(i.e. a book). Brain reaction was
simultaneously measured in participants
through functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI).
The fMRI readings allowed the scientists to divide
emotion-related brain activity from
pain-related reactions. "We found that
seeing unpleasant pictures elicited stronger
pain in subjects getting shocks than looking
at pleasant pictures," says Dr. Roy.
The discovery provides scientific evidence
that pain is governed by mood and builds on
Dr. Roy's previous studies that showed how
pleasant music could decrease aches. "Our
findings show that non-pharmaceutical
interventions – mood enhancers such as
photography or music – could be used in the
healthcare to help alleviate pain. These
interventions would be inexpensive and
adaptable to several fields," he stresses.
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