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Related Experiment Videos

The lateralisation of pain.

H Merskey1, G D Watson

  • 1London Psychiatric Hospital, 850 Highbury Avenue, P.O. Box 2532, Terminal 'A', London, Ont. N6A 4H1 Canada.

Pain
|December 1, 1979
PubMed
Summary

Most pain is felt on the left side, with exceptions like trigeminal neuralgia. This left-sided pain prevalence may stem from the right brain hemisphere

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychology
  • Pain Research

Background:

  • Pain lateralization, or its occurrence on one side of the body, is a common clinical observation.
  • While often left-sided, pain presentation can vary, with specific conditions like trigeminal neuralgia being an exception.
  • Understanding the factors influencing pain lateralization is crucial for diagnosis and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the factors contributing to the lateralization of pain.
  • To explore the potential role of hemispheric differences in sensory processing and emotional experience in pain lateralization.
  • To investigate the association between left-sided pain prevalence and other neurological and psychiatric phenomena.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on pain lateralization.
  • Analysis of experimental data on hemispheric processing of cutaneous sensory input.
  • Examination of neurological and psychiatric data related to pain and emotional experience.

Main Results:

  • Pain is predominantly lateralized to the left side, except in cases such as trigeminal neuralgia.
  • Hysterical conversion symptoms also show a higher incidence on the left side.
  • Experimental evidence suggests the right cerebral hemisphere is less efficient in processing cutaneous sensory information compared to the left.
  • Neurological and psychiatric data indicate right hemisphere dominance for emotional experience.

Conclusions:

  • The right hemisphere's potential inefficiency in sensory processing and its dominance in emotional experience may contribute to the observed left-sided preponderance of pain.
  • Further research into hemispheric lateralization is warranted to fully understand pain perception and its clinical manifestations.

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