Mancini, F; Nash, T; Iannetti, GD; Haggard, P; (2014) Pain relief by touch: a quantitative approach. Pain , 155 (3) pp. 635-642. 10.1016/j.pain.2013.12.024.

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Abstract

Pain relief by touch has been studied for decades in pain neuroscience. Human perceptual studies revealed analgesic effects of segmental tactile stimulation, as compared to extra-segmental touch. However, the spatial organization of touch-pain interactions within a single human dermatome has not been investigated yet. In two experiments, we tested whether, how, and where within a dermatome touch modulates the perception of laser-evoked pain. We measured pain perception using intensity ratings, qualitative descriptors, and signal detection measures of sensitivity and response bias. Touch concurrent with laser pulses produced a significant analgesia, and reduced the sensitivity in detecting the energy of laser stimulation, implying a functional loss of information within the ascending Aδ pathway. Touch also produced a bias to judge laser stimuli as less painful. This bias decreased linearly when the distance between the laser and tactile stimuli increased. Thus, our study provides evidence for a spatial organization of intra-segmental touch-pain interactions.

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