Why the study?
Situationally induced optimism influences experimental pain, but whether this extends to the earliest components of the pain response had not been investigated.
Does induced optimism alter early pain processing measured by CHEPs and SSR in healthy participants?
Does induced optimism alter early pain processing measured by CHEPs and SSR in healthy participants?
Situationally induced optimism does not appear to alter early physiological or self-reported responses to experimental pain.
Induced optimism warrants no change in acute pain approaches; leaves open effects in clinical populations or on later processing.
Situationally induced optimism has been shown to influence several components of experimental pain. The aim of the present study was to enlarge these findings for the first time to the earliest components of the pain response by measuring contact heat evoked potentials (CHEPs) and the sympathetic skin response (SSR). Forty-seven healthy participants underwent two blocks of phasic thermal stimulation. CHEPs, the SSR and self-report pain ratings were recorded. Between the blocks of stimulation, the 'Best Possible Self' imagery and writing task was performed to induce situational optimism. The optimism manipulation was successful in increasing state optimism. It did, however, neither affect pain-evoked potentials nor the SSR nor self-report pain ratings. These results suggest that optimism does not alter early responses to pain. The higher-level cognitive processes involved in optimistic thinking might only act on later stages of pain processing. Therefore, more research is needed targeting different time frames of stimulus processing and response measures for early and late pain processing in parallel.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Basten‐Günther et al. (2023) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: