Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Nociception

Nociception

Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain. Thus, pain helps the...

Analgesia and Pain Management

Analgesia and Pain Management

Pain is critical to various clinical pathologies, provoking an urgent need for effective management. Pain, whether acute or chronic, is a complex neurochemical process. Its alleviation depends on the type, with nonopioid analgesics effective for mild to moderate pain, such as musculoskeletal or inflammatory pain, while neuropathic pain responds best to anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, or serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. For severe acute or chronic pain, opioids may be...

Pain

Pain

Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...

Primary Motives: Sleep, Sex, and Pain Avoidance

Primary Motives: Sleep, Sex, and Pain Avoidance

Primary motives such as sleep, sex, and pain avoidance are crucial drivers of behavior in humans and animals. These motives ensure survival, reproductive success, and overall well-being by prompting actions that meet essential bodily needs.
Sleep is a fundamental physiological drive that fosters a state of restfulness crucial for several bodily functions. It facilitates body restoration, the process by which the body repairs, rejuvenates, and maintains itself during sleep, including memory...

Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep

Substance Use Disorders Affecting Sleep

Substance use disorders involve a pattern of using drugs more extensively than intended and continuing use despite harmful consequences. This includes legal substances like alcohol and nicotine, as well as illegal drugs. These disorders often involve both physical and psychological dependence, reflecting compulsive use of substances that significantly alter thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, contributing to a major public health issue.
Understanding the concepts of physical dependence,...

Insufficient Sleep and Sleep Deprivation

Insufficient Sleep and Sleep Deprivation

Insufficient sleep refers to not getting the recommended amount of sleep for optimal functioning, even if it's just slightly less than needed. Sleep insufficiency may occur due to lifestyle choices, such as staying up late for social events or work, resulting in routinely getting less sleep than required. For example, consistently sleeping 6 hours when the body needs 7-9 hours can lead to cumulative effects on health and well-being.
Sleep deprivation is a more severe form of sleep loss...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

How am I doing? It varies: mixed-effects location scale modeling to examine intra-individual variability in health-related research.

Journal of behavioral medicine·2026

Same author

Genetic risk of chronic pain conditions associated with risk of suicide death through an integrative analysis of EHR and genomics data.

Translational psychiatry·2026

Same author

Physical activity and racial discrimination involvement in pain sensitivity in Asian Americans and non-Hispanic Whites.

Pain reports·2025

Same author

A multivariate statistical index, the fibromyalgia analog model, identifies Dahl S rats as a model of fibromyalgia with improved face validity.

Pain·2025

Same author

Phenome-wide diagnostic comparison among suicide deaths and living individuals with chronic pain diagnoses.

BMC medicine·2024

Same author

Noninvasive targeted modulation of pain circuits with focused ultrasonic waves.

Pain·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 30, 2026

Dynamic Quantitative Sensory Testing to Characterize Central Pain Processing

Dynamic Quantitative Sensory Testing to Characterize Central Pain Processing

Published on: February 16, 2017

Do sleep disorders contribute to pain sensitivity?

Akiko Okifuji¹, Bradford D Hare

¹Pain Research and Management Center, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA. akiko.okifuji@hsc.utah.edu

Current Rheumatology Reports

|August 2, 2011

Summary

Poor sleep quality worsens chronic pain and may reduce pain medication effectiveness. Further research is needed to fully understand this bidirectional relationship between sleep disturbance and pain.

More Related Videos

Chronic Constriction of the Sciatic Nerve and Pain Hypersensitivity Testing in Rats

Chronic Constriction of the Sciatic Nerve and Pain Hypersensitivity Testing in Rats

Published on: March 13, 2012

Multi-Modal Signals for Analyzing Pain Responses to Thermal and Electrical Stimuli

Multi-Modal Signals for Analyzing Pain Responses to Thermal and Electrical Stimuli

Published on: April 5, 2019

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 30, 2026

Dynamic Quantitative Sensory Testing to Characterize Central Pain Processing

Dynamic Quantitative Sensory Testing to Characterize Central Pain Processing

Published on: February 16, 2017

Chronic Constriction of the Sciatic Nerve and Pain Hypersensitivity Testing in Rats

Chronic Constriction of the Sciatic Nerve and Pain Hypersensitivity Testing in Rats

Published on: March 13, 2012

Multi-Modal Signals for Analyzing Pain Responses to Thermal and Electrical Stimuli

Multi-Modal Signals for Analyzing Pain Responses to Thermal and Electrical Stimuli

Published on: April 5, 2019

Area of Science:

Pain Medicine
Sleep Medicine
Neuroscience

Background:

Sleep disturbance is a common issue for chronic pain patients.
The relationship between sleep and pain is complex and likely bidirectional.
This review focuses on how poor sleep impacts pain.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the evidence on the adverse effects of disordered sleep on pain.
To explore the impact of sleep deprivation on pain perception and analgesic efficacy.

Main Methods:

Review of epidemiologic, clinical, and laboratory studies (human and animal).
Synthesis of existing literature on the sleep-pain relationship.

Main Results:

Evidence generally supports a positive association between poor sleep and increased pain.
Sleep deprivation may decrease the effectiveness of pain medications.
Current research on the causal link is preliminary.

Conclusions:

Disordered sleep appears to negatively impact pain levels.
More research is required to understand the translational implications of sleep's effect on pain.
Further investigation into the bidirectional nature of sleep and pain is warranted.