Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 23, 2026

Optimizing Photoneuromodulation Techniques to Evaluate the Role of Green Light-Emitting Diodes in Pain Management
Published on: March 28, 2025
Hypnotic modulation of pain perception and of brain activity triggered by nociceptive laser stimuli
Elia Valentini1, Viviana Betti, Li Hu
1Sapienza Università di Roma, Dipartimento di Psicologia, Italy. elia.valentini@uniroma1.it
Introduction:
Neuroimaging studies indicate that hypnotic suggestions of increased and decreased pain intensity and unpleasantness may modulate somatosensory and cingulate cortex activity, respectively.
Methods:
Using a within subject design and a strict subject selection procedure, we tested in High (Highs) and Low (Lows) hypnotically suggestible individuals whether hypnotic suggestions of sensory and affective hypoalgesia or hyperalgesia differentially affected subjective ratings of laser-induced pain and nociceptive-related brain activity in the time- and time-frequency domain.
Results:
Hypnotic modulation of pain intensity and unpleasantness affected subjective ratings of laser-induced pain only in Highs. Such modulation was more specific for unpleasantness manipulation and more evident for suggestions of hyperalgesia. Importantly, Highs and Lows showed increase and decrease of P2a and P2b wave amplitudes and gamma band power, respectively.
Conclusions:
Hypnotic suggestions exerted a top-down modulatory effect on both evoked and induced-cortical brain responses triggered by selective nociceptive laser inputs. Furthermore, correlation analyses indicated that gamma power modulation and suggestions of hyperalgesia may reflect the process of allocating control resources to salient and threatening sensory-affective dimensions of pain.
More Related Videos
07:52Simultaneous Recordings of Cortical Local Field Potentials and Electrocorticograms in Response to Nociceptive Laser Stimuli from Freely Moving Rats
Published on: January 7, 2019
08:05Electrophysiological Methods to Assess Peripheral Pain Block in an Anesthetized Rat
Published on: November 21, 2025
Related Concept Videos
Analgesia and Pain Management
Nociception
Pain
Local Anesthetics: Differential Sensitivity of Nerve Fibers