Memory for pain: Relation between past and present pain intensity

Abstract

Memory for the intensity of past physical pain depends critically on the intensity of present pain. When their present pain intensity was high, patients with chronic headaches of myofascial origin rated their maximum, usual, and minimum levels of prior pain as being more severe than their hourly pain diaries indicated. When their present pain intensity was low, the same patients remembered all 3 levels of prior pain as being less severe than they actually had been. The results show that pain produces systematic distortions of memory similar to those associated with alterations of affect or mood, and suggest a resolution to a conspicuous conflict in the current pain literature.

Validation of an air-puff passive-avoidance paradigm for assessment of aversive learning and memory in rat models of chronic pain

“…However, reporting of previous pain is known to be distorted in chronic pain patients (Bryant, 1993;Eich et al, 1985). Other studies have shown that both clinical and experimental pain enhance recall of aversive words in a memory task (Pearce et al, 1990;Seltzer and Yarczower, 1991), and increased pain levels are associated with increased re-experiencing symptoms in post-traumatic stress disorder (Beckham et al, 1997), suggesting that pain may actually enhance aversive memory.…”

Psychophysics in the field: Perception and memory for labor pain

“…Pain is the single most common cause for seeking medical help, yet, in the clinic, often the memory for the referent pain only is available. Virtually all of the studies on memory for pain (e.g., Eich, Reeves, Jaeger, & Graff-Radford, 1985;Hunter, Philips, & Rachman, 1979;Kent, 1985;Linton & Gotestam, 1983;Linton & Melin, 1982;Pakula & Milvidaite, 1983;Rofe & Algom, 1985) have been field investigations conducted on different types of patient populations. Typically, a patient is asked to assess the intensity of the pain that he or she is experiencing; then, after a time interval (ranging from a few days to a few months), the patient is asked to assess again the referent pain from memory.…”

An Overview of Mood and Emotions in Sport

“…For example, Rasmussen, Jeffrey, Willingham, and Glover (1994) showed that an "over time" assessment of mood for a period of three days differed significantly from the mean of 18 "right now" assessments collected during the same time period. The questionable accuracy of retrospective recall has also been identified in many other areas of investigation (see Cohen & Java, 1995;Eich, Reeves, Jaeger, & Graff-Radford, 1985;Ptacek, Smith, Espe, & Raffety, 1994) and explained variously as resulting from faulty or incomplete encoding, memory decay, or distorted recollections (Smith, Leffingwell, & Ptacek, 1999). Recall of mood over time appears especially problematic given the proposed influence on memory of ambient mood (i.e., mood at the time of recall).…”