Decreasing pain tolerance outside of awareness

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Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery
09:38

Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery

Published on: April 14, 2016

Esther E Meerman1, Bart Verkuil, Jos F Brosschot

  • 1Clinical, Health, and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands. emeerman@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

Journal of Psychosomatic Research
|February 22, 2011
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Subliminally activating illness-related memory reduced pain tolerance. This suggests that subconscious memory activation can influence physical symptom perception and contribute to medically unexplained symptoms.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psychosomatic Medicine
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Medically unexplained symptoms (MUSs) represent a significant global health and economic challenge.
  • Pain complaints without identifiable organic pathology are the most common form of MUSs.
  • Cognitive models propose that activated illness-related memory influences perception and interpretation of bodily signals, potentially leading to symptom reporting.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether activating illness-related memory, without conscious awareness, leads to decreased pain tolerance (PT).
  • To test a key component of a cognitive model for medically unexplained symptoms.

Main Methods:

  • A subliminal priming technique was employed to activate illness-related memory without conscious awareness.
  • Eighty participants were randomly assigned to four conditions: health complaints (HCs), neutral content, general bodily sensations, or negative valence.
  • Pain tolerance was measured using a cold pressor task.

Main Results:

  • Participants subliminally primed with health complaint words exhibited significantly lower pain tolerance compared to those primed with neutral words.
  • Priming with general bodily sensations or negative valence words did not significantly alter pain tolerance relative to neutral priming.

Conclusions:

  • The findings indicate that pain tolerance can be involuntarily reduced through the activation of illness-related memory.
  • This supports the hypothesis that subconscious activation of illness-related memory plays a role in the development of somatic complaints in medically unexplained symptoms.
  • The results provide partial evidence for cognitive models positing chronically activated illness-related memory as a mechanism for psychosomatic symptom generation.

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