Predicting pain: differential pain thresholds during self-induced, externally induced, and imagined self-induced pressure pain

Lalouni, Maria; Fust, Jens; Vadenmark-Lundqvist, Viktor; Ehrsson, H. Henrik; Kilteni, Konstantina; Jensen, Karin B.

doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002151

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Specifically, previous studies investigating interferences in the detection of a tactile stimulus by the concurrent somatosensory stimulation of another skin location (for a review, see Tamè et al., 2016 ) showed elevated thresholds for stimuli delivered within the same finger or hand ( Sherrick, 1964 ) and smaller effects, if present at all, for stimuli applied on different hands ( Gescheider et al., 1970 ; Laskin and Spencer, 1979 ). Crucially, any bimanual interferences disappear if the double touch stimuli are applied on homologous fingers (e.g., right and left index fingers) or if the two hands differ in their posture (e.g., one hand is palm up and the other is palm down) ( Tamè et al., 2011 ), which is precisely the hands’ configuration employed in the current attenuation and attenuation&gating conditions, and in all previous attenuation studies ( Asimakidou et al., 2022 ; Bays et al., 2006 ; Kilteni et al., 2018 , 2019 , 2020 , 2021 ; Kilteni and Ehrsson, 2017a , 2017b , 2020 ; Lalouni et al., 2020 ; Shergill et al., 2003 , 2005 , 2013 ), one should add. Therefore, bimanual tactile interferences are unlikely to explain somatosensory attenuation effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive attenuation of touch and tactile gating are distinct perceptual phenomena

Kilteni¹,

Ehrsson²

2022

iScience

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictive attenuation of touch and tactile gating are distinct perceptual phenomena

Kilteni¹,

Ehrsson²

2022

iScience

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“…Here, we aimed to experimentally assess the recruitment of forward models during action observation by quantifying the phenomenon of somatosensory attenuation. Somatosensory attenuation refers to the perception that self-generated touches feel less intense than external touches of the same intensity (Blakemore et al 1998, 1999; Shergill et al 2003, 2014; Bays et al 2005; Walsh et al 2011; Kilteni and Ehrsson 2017a, b, 2020b, a; Kilteni et al 2018, 2019, 2020) (see also (Lalouni et al 2020) for recent findings in pain attenuation). Computational motor control theories suggest that attenuation occurs because self-generated tactile sensations can be predicted by the forward model using a copy of the motor command, i.e., an efference copy, in contrast to external stimuli (Blakemore et al 2000; Wolpert and Flanagan 2001; Bays and Wolpert 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence for somatosensory attenuation during action observation of self-touch

Kilteni

Engeler

Boberg

et al. 2021

Preprint

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The discovery of mirror neurons in the macaque brain in the 1990s triggered investigations on putative human mirror neurons and their potential functionality. The leading proposed function has been action understanding: accordingly, we understand the actions of others by simulating them in our own motor system through a direct matching of the visual information to our own motor programs. Furthermore, it has been proposed that this simulation involves the prediction of the sensory consequences of the observed action, similar to the prediction of the sensory consequences of our executed actions. Here, we tested this proposal by quantifying somatosensory attenuation behaviorally during action observation. Somatosensory attenuation manifests during voluntary action and refers to the perception of self-generated touches as less intense than identical externally generated touches because the self-generated touches are predicted from the motor command. Therefore, we reasoned that if an observer simulates the observed action and, thus, he/she predicts its somatosensory consequences, then he/she should attenuate tactile stimuli simultaneously delivered to his/her corresponding body part. In three separate experiments, we found a systematic attenuation of touches during executed self-touch actions, but we found no evidence for attenuation when such actions were observed. Failure to observe somatosensory attenuation during observation of self-touch is not compatible with the hypothesis that the putative human mirror neuron system automatically simulates the observed action. In contrast, our findings emphasize a sharp distinction between the motor representations of self and others.

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“…Self-generated pain has been proven more predictable, and lead to decreased pain via self-attenuation. 37 In contrast to their usual self-induced pain, it is possible that NSSI participants react with higher attention to the other-induced pain, as in this study procedure, and thereby display relatively greater S1 activity.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Central inhibition of pain is augmented in women with self-injurious behavior

Lalouni

Fust

Bjureberg

et al. 2021

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Individuals who engage in nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) have demonstrated higher pain thresholds and tolerance compared with individuals without NSSI. The objective of the study was to assess which aspects of the pain regulatory system that account for this augmented pain perception. In a cross-sectional design, 81 women, aged 18-35 (mean [SD] age, 23.4 [3.9]), were included (41 with NSSI and 40 healthy controls). A quantitative sensory testing protocol, including heat pain thresholds, heat pain tolerance, pressure pain thresholds, conditioned pain modulation (assessing central down-regulation of pain), and temporal summation (assessing facilitation of pain signals) was used. Thermal pain stimuli were assessed during fMRI scanning and NSSI behaviors and clinical symptoms were self-assessed. NSSI participants demonstrated higher pain thresholds during heat and pressure pain compared to controls. During conditioned pain modulation, NSSI participants showed a more effective central down-regulation of pain for NSSI participants. Temporal summation did not differ between the groups. There were no correlations between pain outcomes and NSSI behaviors or clinical characteristics. The fMRI analyses revealed increased activity in the primary and secondary somatosensory cortex in NSSI participants, compared to healthy controls, which are brain regions implicated in sensory aspects of pain processing. The findings suggest segregated inhibitory mechanisms for pain and emotion in NSSI, as pain insensitivity was linked to enhanced inhibitory control of pain in spite of significant impairments in emotion regulation. This may represent an endophenotype associated with a greater risk for developing self-injurious behavior.

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Predicting pain: differential pain thresholds during self-induced, externally induced, and imagined self-induced pressure pain

Abstract: Supplemental Digital Content is Available in the Text. Imagining pressure pain to be self-induced led to increased pressure pain thresholds. Such sensory attenuation of pain was also seen in actual self-induced pressure.

Cited by 15 publications

References 40 publications

Predictive attenuation of touch and tactile gating are distinct perceptual phenomena

Predictive attenuation of touch and tactile gating are distinct perceptual phenomena

No evidence for somatosensory attenuation during action observation of self-touch

Central inhibition of pain is augmented in women with self-injurious behavior

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