Author: Melzack, R.; Weisz, A.Z.; Sprague, L.T.
Description: It is well known that patients frequently try to gain “control” over pain by using stratagems such as focussing attention on competing sensory stimuli or concentrating on simple mathematical puzzles. The purpose of the present study was to determine some of the variables involved in attempts by subjects to control experimental pain by focussing attention on auditory stimulation. The results show that (a) the rate of increase of pain intensity represents an important variable since only slowly rising pains are amenable to “control,” (b) the amount of pain tolerated by subjects is often determined by their expectation of future pain on the basis of rate of pain increase rather than by pain intensity level as such, (c) auditory stimulation together with strong suggestion that it abolishes pain provide an effective stratagem for achieving “control” over pain (thereby enabling subjects to endure it longer) although neither auditory stimulation nor suggestion alone is sufficient to increase the duration of pain tolerance. The increased pain tolerance produced by combined auditory stimulation and suggestion lends support to the concept that pain perceptions are subserved by patterns of nerve impulses that are under dynamic control of psychological processes.
Subject headings: Control over pain; Sensory; Stimuli
Publication year: 1963
Journal or book title: Experimental Neurology
Volume: 8
Issue: 3
Pages: 239-247
Find the full text : http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0014488663900347
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Type: Journal Article
Serial number: 801