Viewing pictures of a romantic partner reduces experimental pain: involvement of neural reward systems.

ABSTRACT: The early stages of a new romantic relationship are characterized by intense feelings of euphoria, well-being, and preoccupation with the romantic partner. Neuroimaging research has linked those feelings to activation of reward systems in the human brain. The results of those studies may be relevant to pain management in humans, as basic animal research has shown that pharmacologic activation of reward systems can substantially reduce pain. Indeed, viewing pictures of a romantic partner was recently demonstrated to reduce experimental thermal pain. We hypothesized that pain relief evoked by viewing pictures of a romantic partner would be associated with neural activations in reward-processing centers. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we examined fifteen individua

SUBMITTER: Younger J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2954158 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature