Mallik Adiel, Raessi Tara, Good Arla, Pachete Alex, Russo Frank A
Department of Psychology, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Front Neurosci. 2025 May 9;19:1569601. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1569601. eCollection 2025.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes motor deficits, including rigidity and tremors. Pain is also a common problem for people with PD that may arise from their dopamine deficit. Some patients with PD experience temporary relief from pain through group singing, which has also been shown to mitigate vocal challenges related to PD. However, no work has been conducted to elucidate the neurochemical mechanisms of action on the pain threshold. Here, we examined whether the effects of group singing on cortisol, alpha amylase, and oxytocin levels are associated with changes in pain thresholds in patients with PD.
Participants with PD ( = 14) participated in a 12-week singing program involving weekly 45-min group singing sessions in the early afternoon. Data collection, involving saliva samples and pain thresholds, was performed pre- and post-session in the 2 (Session 1), 7 (Session 2), and 12 (Session 3) weeks of the program. Saliva samples were collected before and after each session by using the passive drool method. The pain threshold was assessed before and after each session by applying pressure to the finger using a dolorimeter. Saliva samples were used to assess salivary cortisol (sCORT), alpha amylase (sAA), and oxytocin (sOXT). Pain threshold, sCORT, sAA, and sOXT change scores were calculated for each session by subtracting the pre-session value from the post-session value.
Three mixed linear model analyses were performed to assess whether sCORT, sAA, and sOXT were associated with increased pain threshold. We found that group singing led to a significant reduction in sCORT and sAA. We also found that reductions in sCORT were significantly related to an increase in the pain threshold ( < 0.05). However, we did not observe any relationship between pain threshold increases and sAA or between pain threshold and sOXT.
Group singing significantly increases the pain threshold in patients with PD, and this increase may be mediated through a reduction in cortisol levels.
帕金森病（PD）是一种神经退行性疾病，会导致运动功能障碍，包括僵硬和震颤。疼痛也是帕金森病患者常见的问题，可能源于多巴胺缺乏。一些帕金森病患者通过集体唱歌可暂时缓解疼痛，集体唱歌还被证明能减轻与帕金森病相关的发声挑战。然而，尚未开展研究来阐明集体唱歌对疼痛阈值的神经化学作用机制。在此，我们研究了集体唱歌对皮质醇、α淀粉酶和催产素水平的影响是否与帕金森病患者疼痛阈值的变化有关。
14名帕金森病患者参与了一项为期12周的唱歌计划，包括每周下午早些时候进行45分钟的集体唱歌活动。在该计划的第2周（第1次活动）、第7周（第2次活动）和第12周（第3次活动）的活动前后进行数据收集，包括唾液样本和疼痛阈值。每次活动前后通过被动流涎法收集唾液样本。每次活动前后通过使用压痛计对手指施加压力来评估疼痛阈值。唾液样本用于评估唾液皮质醇（sCORT）、α淀粉酶（sAA）和催产素（sOXT）。通过用活动后的值减去活动前的值来计算每次活动的疼痛阈值、sCORT、sAA和sOXT变化分数。
进行了三项混合线性模型分析，以评估sCORT、sAA和sOXT是否与疼痛阈值升高有关。我们发现集体唱歌导致sCORT和sAA显著降低。我们还发现sCORT的降低与疼痛阈值的升高显著相关（P<0.05）。然而，我们未观察到疼痛阈值升高与sAA之间或疼痛阈值与sOXT之间存在任何关系。
集体唱歌显著提高了帕金森病患者的疼痛阈值，这种提高可能是通过皮质醇水平的降低介导的。
