Kleber Boris, Sitges Carol, Brattico Elvira, Vuust Peter, Zamorano Anna M
Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark.
Research Institute of Health Sciences (IUNICS) and Balearic Islands Health Research Institute (IdISBa), Department of Psychology, University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), Palma, Spain.
Eur J Pain. 2025 May;29(5):e70012. doi: 10.1002/ejp.70012.
The integration of concurrent endogenous and exogenous multisensory information throughout years of dedicated sensorimotor training is associated with enhanced interoceptive accuracy and altered pain perception in healthy individuals. However, this relationship remains inconclusive, with outcomes varying by training modality and pain stimulus. This study examines associations between distinct forms of sensorimotor training, interoception and pain perception.
Two groups of individuals performing extensive sensorimotor training, 17 musicians and 15 athletes, and 14 non-musicians/athletes were recruited. Participants completed a cardiac interoceptive accuracy (IAcc) task and quantitative sensory tests, including mechanical and electrical detection thresholds (MDTs and EDTs), pressure and heat pain thresholds (PPTs and HPTs), as well as music-related perceptual discrimination and self-reported physical activity assessments.
Results revealed superior IAcc and PPTs in athletes compared to controls. Musicians exhibited increased heat pain sensitivity. While IAcc in musicians did not reach significance, training duration significantly predicted IAcc across both groups. PPTs correlated positively with both IAcc and accumulated training, but mediation analyses revealed that training effects on PPTs occurred independently of IAcc, suggesting distinct pathways for interoception and pain modulation. Additionally, physical activity levels correlated positively with both IAcc and PPTs across participants.
These findings support the emerging view that individuals engaging in sensorimotor training routines, which require embodied multisensory integration for optimal performance, enhance interoceptive accuracy. They also confirm that pain processing varies by training modality. Furthermore, they suggest that the type of acute pain stimulus may explain inconsistencies in the interoception-pain relationship in healthy populations.
This study advances our understanding of the interoception-pain-training nexus by revealing two distinct pathways: one linking sensorimotor training, interoceptive accuracy and pressure pain perception and another showing that accumulated sensorimotor training independently elevates pain thresholds. By differentiating between pain modalities, the findings contribute to resolving previous contradictory results, refine our insights into interoception in healthy populations and inform about potential clinical interventions.
在多年专门的感觉运动训练中，内源性和外源性多感觉信息的整合与健康个体增强的内感受准确性和改变的疼痛感知相关。然而，这种关系仍无定论，结果因训练方式和疼痛刺激而异。本研究考察不同形式的感觉运动训练、内感受与疼痛感知之间的关联。
招募了两组进行广泛感觉运动训练的个体，17名音乐家和15名运动员，以及14名非音乐家/运动员。参与者完成了一项心脏内感受准确性（IAcc）任务和定量感觉测试，包括机械和电检测阈值（MDTs和EDTs）、压力和热痛阈值（PPTs和HPTs），以及与音乐相关的感知辨别和自我报告的身体活动评估。
结果显示，与对照组相比，运动员的IAcc和PPTs更高。音乐家表现出热痛敏感性增加。虽然音乐家的IAcc未达到显著水平，但训练时长显著预测了两组的IAcc。PPTs与IAcc和累积训练均呈正相关，但中介分析表明，训练对PPTs的影响独立于IAcc发生，提示内感受和疼痛调节存在不同途径。此外，身体活动水平在所有参与者中均与IAcc和PPTs呈正相关。
这些发现支持了一种新出现的观点，即参与需要具体多感觉整合以实现最佳表现的感觉运动训练的个体，会提高内感受准确性。它们还证实，疼痛处理因训练方式而异。此外，它们表明急性疼痛刺激的类型可能解释了健康人群中内感受与疼痛关系的不一致性。
本研究通过揭示两条不同途径，推进了我们对内感受 - 疼痛 - 训练关系的理解：一条途径将感觉运动训练、内感受准确性和压力疼痛感知联系起来，另一条途径表明累积的感觉运动训练独立提高疼痛阈值。通过区分疼痛模式，这些发现有助于解决先前相互矛盾的结果，完善我们对健康人群内感受的认识，并为潜在的临床干预提供信息。
