Marina López-Solà1, Leonie Koban, Tor D Wager. 1. From the Department of Anesthesiology (López-Solà), Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio; and Institute of Cognitive Science (López-Solà, Koban, Wager), Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Contextual factors can transform how we experience pain, particularly if pain is associated with other positive outcomes. Here, we test a novel meaning-based intervention. Participants were given the opportunity to choose to receive pain on behalf of their romantic partners, situating pain experience in a positive, prosocial meaning context. We predicted that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a key structure for pain regulation and generation of affective meaning, would mediate the transformation of pain experience by this prosocial interpersonal context. METHODS: We studied fMRI activity and behavioral responses in 29 heterosexual female participants during (1) a baseline pain challenge and (2) a task in which participants decided to accept a self-selected number of additional pain trials to reduce pain in their male romantic partners ("accept-partner-pain" condition). RESULTS: Enduring extra pain for the benefit of the romantic partner reduced pain-related unpleasantness (t = -2.54, p = .016) but not intensity, and increased positive thoughts (t = 3.60, p = .001) and pleasant feelings (t = 5.39, p < .0005). Greater willingness to accept the pain of one's partner predicted greater unpleasantness reductions (t = 3.94, p = .001) and increases in positive thoughts (r = .457, p = .013). The vmPFC showed significant increases (q < .05 FDR-corrected) in activation during accept-partner-pain, especially for women with greater willingness to relieve their partner's pain (t = 2.63, p = .014). Reductions in brain regions processing pain and aversive emotion significantly mediated reductions in pain unpleasantness (q < .05 FDR-corrected). CONCLUSIONS: The vmPFC has a key role in transforming the meaning of pain, which is associated with a cascade of positive psychological and brain effects, including changes in affective meaning, value, and pain-specific neural circuits.
OBJECTIVE: Contextual factors can transform how we experience pain, particularly if pain is associated with other positive outcomes. Here, we test a novel meaning-based intervention. Participants were given the opportunity to choose to receive pain on behalf of their romantic partners, situating pain experience in a positive, prosocial meaning context. We predicted that the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), a key structure for pain regulation and generation of affective meaning, would mediate the transformation of pain experience by this prosocial interpersonal context. METHODS: We studied fMRI activity and behavioral responses in 29 heterosexual female participants during (1) a baseline pain challenge and (2) a task in which participants decided to accept a self-selected number of additional pain trials to reduce pain in their male romantic partners ("accept-partner-pain" condition). RESULTS: Enduring extra pain for the benefit of the romantic partner reduced pain-related unpleasantness (t = -2.54, p = .016) but not intensity, and increased positive thoughts (t = 3.60, p = .001) and pleasant feelings (t = 5.39, p < .0005). Greater willingness to accept the pain of one's partner predicted greater unpleasantness reductions (t = 3.94, p = .001) and increases in positive thoughts (r = .457, p = .013). The vmPFC showed significant increases (q < .05 FDR-corrected) in activation during accept-partner-pain, especially for women with greater willingness to relieve their partner's pain (t = 2.63, p = .014). Reductions in brain regions processing pain and aversive emotion significantly mediated reductions in pain unpleasantness (q < .05 FDR-corrected). CONCLUSIONS: The vmPFC has a key role in transforming the meaning of pain, which is associated with a cascade of positive psychological and brain effects, including changes in affective meaning, value, and pain-specific neural circuits.
Authors: L M Shin; D D Dougherty; S P Orr; R K Pitman; M Lasko; M L Macklin; N M Alpert; A J Fischman; S L Rauch Journal: Biol Psychiatry Date: 2000-07-01 Impact factor: 13.382
Authors: Razia S Sahi; Macrina C Dieffenbach; Siyan Gan; Maya Lee; Laura I Hazlett; Shannon M Burns; Matthew D Lieberman; Simone G Shamay-Tsoory; Naomi I Eisenberger Journal: PLoS One Date: 2021-02-09 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Lada Kohoutová; Lauren Y Atlas; Christian Büchel; Jason T Buhle; Stephan Geuter; Marieke Jepma; Leonie Koban; Anjali Krishnan; Dong Hee Lee; Sungwoo Lee; Mathieu Roy; Scott M Schafer; Liane Schmidt; Tor D Wager; Choong-Wan Woo Journal: Nat Neurosci Date: 2022-05-30 Impact factor: 28.771
Authors: Inge Timmers; Conny W E M Quaedflieg; Connie Hsu; Lauren C Heathcote; Cynthia R Rovnaghi; Laura E Simons Journal: Neurosci Biobehav Rev Date: 2019-10-14 Impact factor: 8.989
Authors: Han Tong; Thomas C Maloney; Michael F Payne; Christopher D King; Tracy V Ting; Susmita Kashikar-Zuck; Robert C Coghill; Marina López-Solà Journal: Pain Date: 2022-03-08 Impact factor: 7.926