Antioch Iulia, Furuta Tsumugu, Uchikawa Ryutaro, Okumura Masayo, Otogoto Junichi, Kondo Eiji, Sogawa Norio, Ciobica Alin, Tomida Mihoko
Department of Research, Faculty of Biology, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania.
Department of Oral Health Promotion, Graduate School of Oral Medicine, Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano, Japan.
J Pain Res. 2020 Oct 29;13:2729-2737. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S276274. eCollection 2020.
Music therapy is widely used to enhance well-being, reduce pain, and distract patients from unpleasant symptoms in the clinical setting. However, the degree to which music modulates pain perception is unknown. The medial pain pathway including the limbic system is associated with emotion, but how music alters pathway activity is unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate pain thresholds and pain-related responses in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and whether they were modulated when subjects listened to their favorite music genre.
First, 30 subjects were examined for left forearm pain threshold using electrical stimulation with Pain Vision PS-2011N. The pain thresholds with and without music were compared. Second, when an 80-μA current from Pain Vision was applied to the left ankle of eight women, the pain-related responses of the ACC with and without music were observed with functional magnetic resonance device (fMRI). The changes in the pain-related activity in both parameters were discussed.
The median pain threshold with favorite music was 38.9 μA, compared to 29.0 μA without, which was significantly different (<0.0001). The men's thresholds were significantly higher than women's both with music (<0.05) and without music (<0.01). The pain threshold in women was more strongly affected by music than in men. The fMRI results showed that the pain-related response in the ACC in five of eight subjects was attenuated while they listened to their favorite music. No change was observed in the other three subjects.
The present findings suggest that pain perception might be strongly affected by listening to favorite music, possibly through modulation of pain-related responses in the ACC.
音乐疗法在临床环境中被广泛用于提升幸福感、减轻疼痛以及分散患者对不良症状的注意力。然而，音乐调节疼痛感知的程度尚不清楚。包括边缘系统在内的内侧疼痛通路与情绪相关，但音乐如何改变该通路的活动尚不清楚。本研究的目的是调查前扣带回皮质（ACC）的疼痛阈值和与疼痛相关的反应，以及当受试者聆听他们最喜欢的音乐类型时这些反应是否会受到调节。
首先，使用Pain Vision PS - 2011N通过电刺激对30名受试者的左前臂疼痛阈值进行检测。比较有音乐和无音乐时的疼痛阈值。其次，当用Pain Vision的80 μA电流施加于8名女性的左脚踝时，使用功能磁共振设备（fMRI）观察有音乐和无音乐时ACC的疼痛相关反应。讨论了两个参数中与疼痛相关活动的变化。
听最喜欢的音乐时的疼痛阈值中位数为38.9 μA，相比之下无音乐时为29.0 μA，两者差异显著（<0.0001）。有音乐（<0.05）和无音乐（<0.01）时，男性的阈值均显著高于女性。女性的疼痛阈值比男性受音乐的影响更大。fMRI结果显示，8名受试者中有5名在聆听最喜欢的音乐时ACC中与疼痛相关的反应减弱。另外3名受试者未观察到变化。
目前的研究结果表明，聆听最喜欢的音乐可能会通过调节ACC中与疼痛相关的反应而强烈影响疼痛感知。
