Duranti R, Galletti R, Pantaleo T
Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1983 Jun;55(6):637-44. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(83)90273-0.
The present research was undertaken in 11 healthy volunteers with the aim of investigating the relationship between blink response, a feature of the startle reaction, and muscular pain evoked by muscle electrical stimulation (train of stimuli). At a repetition rate of 0.1 Hz, a close relationship was found between the threshold for muscle pain and that for the blink response, without apparent habituation. At the same rate and with stimulation intensity maintained at pain threshold, the subject could voluntarily inhibit the blink response, but not pain. Under the same conditions both pain and blink response were inhibited during a mental task. By increasing the current intensity pain became more intense and the blink response tended to increase in amplitude and to decrease in latency. Similar effects were achieved by increasing the repetition rate with the current intensity maintained at pain threshold. Habituation of the blink response, but not of pain, was found at repetition rates of 1 Hz or more. Present results indicate that nociceptive inputs from muscle have a facilitatory effect on central mechanisms subserving the blink response. It is suggested that the comparative analysis of pain sensation and the blink response may be a useful tool for pain research in man.
本研究对11名健康志愿者进行，旨在探究惊吓反应的一个特征——眨眼反应，与肌肉电刺激（刺激序列）诱发的肌肉疼痛之间的关系。在0.1赫兹的重复率下，发现肌肉疼痛阈值与眨眼反应阈值之间存在密切关系，且无明显的习惯化现象。以相同频率且刺激强度维持在疼痛阈值时，受试者能够自主抑制眨眼反应，但无法抑制疼痛。在相同条件下，执行一项心理任务时，疼痛和眨眼反应均受到抑制。通过增加电流强度，疼痛变得更强烈，眨眼反应的幅度趋于增加，潜伏期趋于缩短。在电流强度维持在疼痛阈值的情况下，通过提高重复率也能获得类似效果。在1赫兹或更高的重复率下，发现眨眼反应出现了习惯化现象，但疼痛并未出现习惯化。目前的结果表明，来自肌肉的伤害性输入对支持眨眼反应的中枢机制具有促进作用。有人提出，对疼痛感觉和眨眼反应进行比较分析，可能是人类疼痛研究的一种有用工具。
