accurately represent the degree to which the head was turned. In some cases, the scene indicated that participants weren’t turning their head as far as they actually were — it understated the degree of rotation. In other cases, the feedback indicated to participants that they were turning their head farther than they were, overstating the degree of rotation.
The results showed that the visual feedback played an important role in determining when the participants reported feeling pain.
When the display understated actual head rotation, participants had a broader range of pain-free motion; they were able to turn their head about 6% farther than they normally would. But when the display overstated head rotation, their pain-free range of motion shrank by an average of 7%.
Importantly, the participants didn’t report any differences in the intensity of pain across the various conditions.
“We were surprised at how robust and predictable this pattern of results was,” says Moseley. While previous research has indicated that external cues can influence the intensity of pain experiences, these results are novel in showing that external cues can also shift the physical point at which pain is experienced.
The researchers note that their work, though experimental in nature, could have significant implications for the clinical treatment of pain.
“If cues signaling danger amplify or indeed trigger pain, then these cues present a novel target for therapy,” they conclude.
Co-authors on the study include Markus Broecker, Ross T. Smith, and Victoria J. Madden of the University of South Australia and Ann Meulders of the University of Leuven.
This work was supported by National Health and Medical Research Council (NMHRC) Principal Research Fellowship 1061279 (to G. L. Moseley), NHMRC Grant 1047317 (to G. L. Moseley), Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek–Vlaanderen Grant 12E3714N (to A. Meulders), and European Pain Federation-EFIC Grünenthal Research Grant E-G-G 169518451 (to A. Meulders).
All data have been made publicly available via the Harvard Dataverse Network. The complete Open Practices Disclosure for this article can be found here.
Contact: Anna Mikulak – APS
Source: APS press release
Image Source: The image is adapted from the APS press release. The original image source is not recorded.
Original Research: Abstract for “Bogus Visual Feedback Alters Onset of Movement-Evoked Pain in People With Neck Pain” by Daniel S. Harvie, Markus Broecker, Ross T. Smith, Ann Meulders, Victoria J. Madden, and G. Lorimer Moseley in Psychological Science. Published online February 17 2015 doi:10.1177/0956797614563339