Kordula Lang-Illievich, Christoph Klivinyi, Julia Ranftl, Ala Elhelali, Sascha Hammer, Istvan S Szilagyi, Helmar Bornemann-Cimenti
{"title":"Change in Endogenous Pain Modulation Depending on Emotional States in Healthy Subjects: A Randomized Controlled Trial.","authors":"Kordula Lang-Illievich, Christoph Klivinyi, Julia Ranftl, Ala Elhelali, Sascha Hammer, Istvan S Szilagyi, Helmar Bornemann-Cimenti","doi":"10.1007/s40122-024-00642-1","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Chronic pain is a public health issue, leading to substantial healthcare costs and diminished quality of life for sufferers. While the role of anxiety in pain modulation has been extensively studied, the effects of other emotional states on the body's pain control mechanisms remain less understood. This study sought to explore how different emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, and interest) affect conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and the wind-up phenomenon in healthy adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This randomized controlled, cross-over trial involved 28 healthy participants aged 18-60. Participants watched video clips designed to induce specific emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, and interest. Emotional states were assessed using a 7-point Likert scale. Pain modulation was measured using CPM and the wind-up phenomenon. CPM was assessed with a hot water bath as the conditioning stimulus and pressure pain tolerance as the test stimulus. Wind-up was measured using pinprick needle stimulators and a visual analog scale. Data were analyzed using paired t tests to compare pre- and post-emotion induction values.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Significant changes in emotional self-assessment values were observed for all emotions. Happiness increased CPM (4.6 ± 11.4, p = 0.04277), while sadness - 9.9 ± 23.1, p = 0.03211) and anger - 9.1 ± 23.3, p = 0.04804) decreased it. Interest did not significantly alter CPM (- 5.1 ± 25.8, p = 0.31042). No significant effects were found for the wind-up phenomenon across any emotional states.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study shows that emotional states significantly affect the body's ability to modulate pain. Positive emotions like happiness enhance pain inhibition, while negative emotions such as sadness and anger impair it. These findings suggest that emotional modulation techniques could be integrated into pain management strategies to improve patient outcomes. Further research should explore a broader range of emotions and include objective measures to validate these results.</p>","PeriodicalId":19908,"journal":{"name":"Pain and Therapy","volume":" ","pages":"1287-1298"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11393222/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pain and Therapy","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s40122-024-00642-1","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/8/5 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CLINICAL NEUROLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Chronic pain is a public health issue, leading to substantial healthcare costs and diminished quality of life for sufferers. While the role of anxiety in pain modulation has been extensively studied, the effects of other emotional states on the body's pain control mechanisms remain less understood. This study sought to explore how different emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, and interest) affect conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and the wind-up phenomenon in healthy adults.
Methods: This randomized controlled, cross-over trial involved 28 healthy participants aged 18-60. Participants watched video clips designed to induce specific emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, and interest. Emotional states were assessed using a 7-point Likert scale. Pain modulation was measured using CPM and the wind-up phenomenon. CPM was assessed with a hot water bath as the conditioning stimulus and pressure pain tolerance as the test stimulus. Wind-up was measured using pinprick needle stimulators and a visual analog scale. Data were analyzed using paired t tests to compare pre- and post-emotion induction values.
Results: Significant changes in emotional self-assessment values were observed for all emotions. Happiness increased CPM (4.6 ± 11.4, p = 0.04277), while sadness - 9.9 ± 23.1, p = 0.03211) and anger - 9.1 ± 23.3, p = 0.04804) decreased it. Interest did not significantly alter CPM (- 5.1 ± 25.8, p = 0.31042). No significant effects were found for the wind-up phenomenon across any emotional states.
Conclusion: This study shows that emotional states significantly affect the body's ability to modulate pain. Positive emotions like happiness enhance pain inhibition, while negative emotions such as sadness and anger impair it. These findings suggest that emotional modulation techniques could be integrated into pain management strategies to improve patient outcomes. Further research should explore a broader range of emotions and include objective measures to validate these results.
期刊介绍:
Pain and Therapy is an international, open access, peer-reviewed, rapid publication journal dedicated to the publication of high-quality clinical (all phases), observational, real-world, and health outcomes research around the discovery, development, and use of pain therapies and pain-related devices. Studies relating to diagnosis, pharmacoeconomics, public health, quality of life, and patient care, management, and education are also encouraged.
Areas of focus include, but are not limited to, acute pain, cancer pain, chronic pain, headache and migraine, neuropathic pain, opioids, palliative care and pain ethics, peri- and post-operative pain as well as rheumatic pain and fibromyalgia.
The journal is of interest to a broad audience of pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals and publishes original research, reviews, case reports, trial protocols, short communications such as commentaries and editorials, and letters. The journal is read by a global audience and receives submissions from around the world. Pain and Therapy will consider all scientifically sound research be it positive, confirmatory or negative data. Submissions are welcomed whether they relate to an international and/or a country-specific audience, something that is crucially important when researchers are trying to target more specific patient populations. This inclusive approach allows the journal to assist in the dissemination of all scientifically and ethically sound research.