Eich Eric, Reeves John L, Jaeger Bernadette, Graff-Radford Steven B
Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1Y7 Canada Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024 U.S.A.
Pain. 1985 Dec;23(4):375-380. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(85)90007-7.
Memory for the intensity of past physical pain depends critically on the intensity of present pain. When their present pain intensity was high, patients with chronic headaches of myofascial origin rated their maximum, usual, and minimum levels of prior pain as being more severe than their hourly pain diaries indicated. When their present pain intensity was low, the same patients remembered all 3 levels of prior pain as being less severe than they actually had been. The results show that pain produces systematic distortions of memory similar to those associated with alterations of affect or mood, and suggest a resolution to a conspicuous conflict in the current pain literature.
对过去身体疼痛强度的记忆严重依赖于当前疼痛的强度。当当前疼痛强度较高时，肌筋膜源性慢性头痛患者对先前疼痛的最大、通常和最小程度的评分比他们每小时的疼痛日记所显示的更为严重。当当前疼痛强度较低时，同样是这些患者，他们回忆的先前疼痛的所有三个程度都比实际情况要轻。结果表明，疼痛会产生类似于与情感或情绪变化相关的记忆系统性扭曲，并为当前疼痛文献中一个明显的矛盾提供了解决方案。
