'Emotions increase or decrease pain': researchers

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'Emotions increase or decrease pain': researchers

Universite de Montreal study published in PNAS

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/uom-io111009.php

Montreal, November 10, 2009 – Getting a flu shot this fall? Canadians scientists

have found that focusing on a pretty image could alleviate the sting of that

vaccine. According to a new Université de Montréal study, published in the

latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS),

negative and positive emotions have a direct impact on pain.

" Emotions – or mood – can alter how we react to pain since they're interlinked, "

says lead author Mathieu Roy, who completed the study as a Université de

Montréal PhD student and is now a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University.

" Our tests revealed when pain is perceived by our brain and how that pain can be

amplified when combined with negative emotions. "

As part of the study, 13 subjects were recruited to undergo small yet painful

electric shocks, which caused knee-jerk reactions controlled by the spine that

could be measured. During the fMRI process, subjects were shown a succession of

images that were either pleasant (i.e. summer water-skiing), unpleasant (i.e. a

vicious bear) or neutral (i.e. a book). Brain reaction was simultaneously

measured in participants through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The fMRI readings allowed the scientists to divide emotion-related brain

activity from pain-related reactions. " We found that seeing unpleasant pictures

elicited stronger pain in subjects getting shocks than looking at pleasant

pictures, " says Dr. Roy.

The discovery provides scientific evidence that pain is governed by mood and

builds on Dr. Roy's previous studies that showed how pleasant music could

decrease aches. " Our findings show that non-pharmaceutical interventions – mood

enhancers such as photography or music – could be used in the healthcare to help

alleviate pain. These interventions would be inexpensive and adaptable to

several fields, " he stresses.

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About the study: The study, " Cerebral and spinal modulation of pain by

emotions, " published in PNAS, was authored by Mathieu Roy, Piché, Mathieu, Chen,

Jen-I, Isabelle Peretz and Pierre Rainville of the Université de Montréal.

Partners in research: This study was supported by the Fonds de recherche en

santé du Québec, the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada

and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.