Grabbing hold of an injured area of the body can ameliorate acute pain, but how?
Marjolein Kammers at University College London and her team subjected volunteers to a modified version of the 'thermal grill illusion'. This usually relies on warm and cold bars, but submerging the index and ring fingers in warm water and the middle finger in cool water creates the same sensation — of painful heat in the middle finger.
The volunteers put both hands through this experience. Then, by pressing the three fingers of one hand together with the same fingers on the other hand, volunteers cut their pain level by 64%. Bringing only one or two fingers together, or pressing their fingers against those of the experimenters, did not have this effect. The researchers believe that only full self-contact increases the coherence of the brain's map of the body, which curbs pain.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cognitive neuroscience: How self-touch relieves pain. Nature 467, 503 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/467503c
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/467503c
