Do Emotions Affect Mechanical Pain Thresholds?

The Effect of Positive and Negative Emotions on Mechanical Pain Thresholds: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to investigate if different emotional states could influence mechanical pain thresholds.

Participants will be randomized into 4 different groups watching different short video-clips (2.20 min). The negative emotions group will watch an uncomfortable short video containing violence and blood, the positive emotions group will watch a video containing a stand-up comedy show, the neutral emotions group will watch a video with Swedish nature, and the control group will just wait for 2.20 min, without any instructions about what to think about. Pressure pain thresholds will be measured with an algometer before and after the video-clip interventions.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Above 18 years of age, fluent in Swedish.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pain anywhere in body during the test session, known neurological disease.