Working memory and visual discrimination distraction tasks improve cold pressor pain tolerance in children.

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-20
Author(s):  
Lynnda M. Dahlquist ◽  
Wendy M. Gaultney ◽  
Samantha P. Bento ◽  
Emily M. Steiner ◽  
Julia A. Zeroth ◽  
...  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Stephens ◽  
Olly May Robertson

Background: This pre-registered study extends previous findings that swearing alleviates pain tolerance by assessing the effects of a conventional swear word (“fuck”) and two new “swear” words, “fouch” and “twizpipe”.Method: A mixed sex group of participants (N = 92) completed a repeated measures experimental design augmented by mediation analysis. The independent variable was Word with the levels, “fuck” v. “fouch” v. “twizpipe” v. a neutral word. The dependent variables were emotion rating, humour rating, distraction rating, cold pressor pain threshold, cold pressor pain tolerance, pain perception score and change from resting heart rate. Possible mediation effects were assessed for emotion, humour and distraction ratings. Results: For conventional swearing (“fuck”), confirmatory analyses found a 32% increase in pain threshold and a 33% increase in pain tolerance, accompanied by increased ratings for emotion, humour and distraction, relative to the neutral word condition. The new “swear” words, “fouch” and “twizpipe” were rated higher than the neutral word for emotion and humour although these words did not affect pain threshold or tolerance. Changes in heart rate, pain perception and were absent, as were mediation effects.Conclusions: Our data replicate previous findings that repeating a swear word at a steady pace and volume benefits pain tolerance, extending this finding to pain threshold. Our data cannot explain how such effects are manifest, although distraction appears to be of little importance, and emotion is worthy of future study. The new “swear” words did not alleviate pain even though participants rated them as emotion evoking and humorous.


Author(s):  
Kristina Fladseth ◽  
Haakon Lindekleiv ◽  
Christopher Nielsen ◽  
Andrea Øhrn ◽  
Andreas Kristensen ◽  
...  

Background The initial presentation to coronary angiography and extent of coronary artery disease (CAD) vary greatly among patients, from ischemia with no obstructive CAD to myocardial infarction with 3‐vessel disease. Pain tolerance has been suggested as a potential mechanism for the variation in presentation of CAD. We aimed to investigate the association between pain tolerance, coronary angiography, CAD, and death. Methods and Results We identified 9576 participants in the Tromsø Study (2007–2008) who completed the cold‐pressor pain test, and had no prior history of CAD. The median follow‐up time was 10.4 years. We applied Cox‐regression models with age as time‐scale to calculate hazard ratios (HR). More women than men aborted the cold pressor test (39% versus 23%). Participants with low pain tolerance had 19% increased risk of coronary angiography (HR, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.03–1.38]) and 22% increased risk of obstructive CAD (HR, 1.22 [95% CI, 1.01–1.47]) adjusted by age as time‐scale and sex. Among women who underwent coronary angiography, low pain tolerance was associated with 54% increased risk of obstructive CAD (HR, 1.54 [95% CI, 1.09–2.18]) compared with high pain tolerance. There was no association between pain tolerance and nonobstructive CAD or clinical presentation to coronary angiography (ie, stable angina, unstable angina, and myocardial infarction). Participants with low pain tolerance had increased risk of mortality after adjustment for CAD and cardiovascular risk factors (HR, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.19–1.64]). Conclusions Low cold pressor pain tolerance is associated with a higher risk of coronary angiography and death.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin C. Thompson ◽  
Emily Foxen-Craft ◽  
Jessica L. Hoehn ◽  
Lynnda M. Dahlquist

2005 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 561-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Kasch ◽  
Erisela Qerama ◽  
Flemming Winther Bach ◽  
Troels Staehelin Jensen

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanan El-Tumi ◽  
Mark I. Johnson ◽  
Osama A. Tashani

Background: Ageing is associated with alterations of the structure and function of somatosensory tissue that can impact on pain perception. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age and pain sensitivity responses to noxious thermal and mechanical stimuli in healthy adults. Methods: 56 unpaid volunteers (28 women) aged between 20 and 55 years were categorised according to age into one of seven possible groups. The following measurements were taken: thermal detection thresholds, heat pain threshold and tolerance using a TSA-II NeuroSensory Analyzer; pressure pain threshold using a handheld electronic pressure algometer; and cold pressor pain threshold, tolerance, intensity and unpleasantness. Results: There was a positive correlation between heat pain tolerance and age (r = 0.228, P = 0.046), but no statistically significant differences between age groups for cold or warm detection thresholds, or heat pain threshold or tolerance. Forward regression found increasing age to be a predictor of increased pressure pain threshold (B = 0.378, P = 0.002), and sex/gender to be a predictor of cold pressor pain tolerance, with women having lower tolerance than men (B = -0.332, P = 0.006). Conclusion: The findings of this experimental study provide further evidence that pressure pain threshold increases with age and that women have lower thresholds and tolerances to innocuous and noxious thermal stimuli. Significance: The findings demonstrate that variations in pain sensitivity response to experimental stimuli in adults vary according to stimulus modality, age and sex and gender.


1985 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 711-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Stevens

This study investigated the effectiveness of covert positive reinforcement in modifying response to cold-pressor pain and in increasing the use of prescribed adaptive imagery. 80 women were randomly assigned to covert positive reinforcement, backward conditioning, covert rehearsal, and expectancy conditions. Covert positive reinforcement did not yield either greater pain tolerance and use of adaptive imagery or less subjective discomfort than the other conditions. Modification of pain was not associated with the use of adaptive imagery but was correlated with the clarity of imagery. 64% of the subjects reported using self-generated coping strategies. The results of this study contribute to the body of evidence which does not support the operant conceptualization of covert positive reinforcement.


1982 ◽  
Vol 55 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1175-1178
Author(s):  
Everett L. Worthington

This experiment assessed a recent contention that cognitive pain-control strategies are effective because length of training produces demands irrespective of content of training. Participants held the dominant hand in ice water for 5 sec. They then estimated how long they expected to tolerate ice water using one of four cognitive pain-control strategies. People who used multiple cognitive strategies previously found to be effective experienced mean tolerance equal to that of subjects who used multiple cognitive strategies previously found to be ineffective. Participants then used the instructions while their hands were immersed in ice water. People tolerated the pain longer when using effective rather than ineffective strategies. The experiment demonstrated that the efficacy of cognitive pain-control strategies cannot be accounted for by length of instructions alone.


2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 587-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynnda M. Dahlquist ◽  
Linda J. Herbert ◽  
Karen E. Weiss ◽  
Monica Jimeno

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