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  • Classical Conditioning Fails to Elicit Allodynia in an Experimental Study with Healthy Humans

    Author(s)
    Madden, Victoria J
    Russek, Leslie N
    Harvie, Daniel S
    Vlaeyen, Johan WS
    Moseley, G Lorimer
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Harvie, Daniel S.
    Year published
    2017
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Objective: Associative learning has been proposed as a mechanism behind the persistence of pain after tissue healing. The simultaneous occurrence of nociceptive and non-nociceptive input during acute injury mimics the pairings thought to drive classical conditioning effects. However, empirical evidence for classically conditioned allodynia is lacking. We aimed to manipulate pain thresholds with a classical conditioning procedure that used non-nociceptive somatosensory stimuli as conditioned stimuli (CS) and nociceptive stimuli as unconditioned stimuli. We also explored the influence of gender, depression, anxiety, negative ...
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    Objective: Associative learning has been proposed as a mechanism behind the persistence of pain after tissue healing. The simultaneous occurrence of nociceptive and non-nociceptive input during acute injury mimics the pairings thought to drive classical conditioning effects. However, empirical evidence for classically conditioned allodynia is lacking. We aimed to manipulate pain thresholds with a classical conditioning procedure that used non-nociceptive somatosensory stimuli as conditioned stimuli (CS) and nociceptive stimuli as unconditioned stimuli. We also explored the influence of gender, depression, anxiety, negative affect, and pain catastrophizing on the main manipulation. Design: Thirty-four healthy humans participated in a differential classical conditioning procedure that used vibrotactile stimulations at two different locations as CS. In an acquisition phase, CS+ was paired with painful thermal stimulation, and CS- with nonpainful thermal stimulation. Heat pain threshold was assessed during paired heat-CS trials before and after acquisition. A 2 (time: 1 and 2) x 2 (condition: CS+ and CS-) repeated-measures analysis of variance compared pain thresholds before and after acquisition. Exploratory analyses explored the influence of gender, depression, anxiety, negative affect, and pain catastrophizing. Postexperiment questions investigated participants’ awareness of the contingencies employed. Results: The classical conditioning procedure did not alter pain thresholds. Exploratory analyses did not reveal any influence of individual differences. Thirty of the 34 participants were unaware of the contingencies between stimuli. Conclusions: The results of this study provide no evidence that allodynia can be induced in healthy humans using a classical conditioning procedure with simultaneous timing.
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    Journal Title
    Pain Medicine
    Volume
    18
    Issue
    7
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnw221
    Subject
    Clinical sciences
    Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences
    Pharmacology and pharmaceutical sciences not elsewhere classified
    Health services and systems
    Public health
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/377213
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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