Studies on Pain: Measurements of Aching Pain Threshold and Discrimination of Differences in Intensity of Aching Pain

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Using pressure upon the subcut. tissues of the forehead as the stimulus, measurements were made of the absolute and difference thresholds for aching pain. In a series of 1250 measurements on 3 subjects the aching pain threshold was observed to be 537 [plus or minus] 115 g. The difference threshold, detd. by measuring the intensity of 2 stimuli evoking a just noticeable difference (jnd) in pain intensity, was 125 g. at threshold and increased to 1400 g. for a stimulus of 5200 g. 14 jnd''s were observed in this stimulus range. The direct comparison of intensities of aching and pricking pains showed that pains of equal intensity were above the threshold to the same extent when measured in terms of jnd''s. It was inferred from this data that: (a) measurement of the absolute threshold of aching pain is as precise with this method as that for pricking pain using thermal radiation, if the data are expressed in terms of the jnd; (b) aching and pricking pains can be compared as regards intensity, and pains of equal intensity are an equal number of jnd''s above threshold; (c) the extent of the intensity dimensions for pricking and aching pains are roughly the same; and (d) study of the effects of centrally-acting analgesics upon the pain threshold by measuring one quality of pain are applicable to another when the comparison is made in terms of the just noticeable difference.
Keywords

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: