Onset hyperalgesia and offset analgesia: Transient increases or decreases of noxious thermal stimulus intensity robustly modulate subsequent perceived pain intensity.

ABSTRACT: Reported pain intensity depends not only on stimulus intensity but also on previously experienced pain. A painfully hot temperature applied to the skin evokes a lower subjective pain intensity if immediately preceded by a higher temperature, a phenomenon called offset analgesia. Previous work indicated that prior pain experience can also increase subsequent perceived pain intensity. Therefore, we examined whether a given noxious stimulus is experienced as more intense when it is preceded by an increase from a lower temperature. Using healthy volunteer subjects, we observed a disproportionate increase in pain intensity at a given stimulus intensity when this intensity is preceded by a rise from a lower intensity. This disproportionate increase is similar in magnitude to that of offset analg

SUBMITTER: Alter BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7723268 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature