Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
Department of Psychology, Carl Von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany.
J Pain. 2018 Jan;19(1):35-45. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2017.08.005. Epub 2017 Aug 30.
The rubber hand illusion (RHI) has been shown to alter the experience of pain, although studies have yielded inconsistent results. In this experiment we tested the influence of the RHI on the intensity of pain caused by electric stimuli. Electric stimuli were delivered to participants' experimental and control hands before RHI induction (control condition) and afterward (experimental condition), in a procedure that was double-blind with respect to location and strength of noxious stimulation. All hands were covered during the stimulation to avoid the analgesic effect of seeing one's own body part. The perceived location of the hand and of pain were measured after each trial in the experimental condition. The results showed that noxious stimuli were experienced as more painful on the hand under the illusion. In addition, in the experimental condition the perceived location of noxious stimulation applied to the experimental hand drifted toward the rubber hand. Our data suggest that the link between bodily illusions and pain could be modulated by uncertainty about location of pain and the affected body part. Future studies should aim to determine which aspects of altered body awareness lead to pain sensitization.
We show that the RHI can change the perceived location of pain and increase pain ratings caused by electric stimuli. Our data suggest that the link between bodily illusions and pain could be modulated by uncertainty about location of pain and the affected body part.
橡胶手错觉（RHI）已被证明可以改变疼痛的体验，尽管研究结果不一致。在这个实验中，我们测试了 RHI 对电刺激引起的疼痛强度的影响。在诱导 RHI 之前（对照条件）和之后（实验条件），向参与者的实验手和对照手施加电刺激，在程序上，位置和疼痛刺激的强度都是双盲的。在刺激过程中，所有的手都被覆盖，以避免看到自己身体部位的镇痛作用。在实验条件下，每次试验后测量手和疼痛的感知位置。结果表明，在错觉状态下，手受到的疼痛刺激感觉更痛。此外，在实验条件下，施加到实验手上的疼痛刺激的感知位置向橡胶手漂移。我们的数据表明，身体错觉和疼痛之间的联系可以通过对疼痛位置和受影响身体部位的不确定性来调节。未来的研究应该旨在确定改变的身体意识的哪些方面导致疼痛敏感化。
我们表明，RHI 可以改变疼痛的感知位置，并增加电刺激引起的疼痛评分。我们的数据表明，身体错觉和疼痛之间的联系可以通过对疼痛位置和受影响身体部位的不确定性来调节。
