Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity Combined

Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) describes the reduction in pain evoked by a test stimulus (TS) when presented together with a heterotopic painful conditioning stimulus (CS). CPM has been proposed to reflect inter-individual differences in endogenous pain modulation, which may predict susceptibilit...

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Main Authors: Philipp Graeff, Alina Itter, Katharina Wach, Ruth Ruscheweyh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
Series:Brain Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/9/1186
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author Philipp Graeff
Alina Itter
Katharina Wach
Ruth Ruscheweyh
author_facet Philipp Graeff
Alina Itter
Katharina Wach
Ruth Ruscheweyh
author_sort Philipp Graeff
collection DOAJ
description Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) describes the reduction in pain evoked by a test stimulus (TS) when presented together with a heterotopic painful conditioning stimulus (CS). CPM has been proposed to reflect inter-individual differences in endogenous pain modulation, which may predict susceptibility for acute and chronic pain. Here, we aimed to estimate the relative variance in CPM explained by inter-individual differences compared to age, sex, and CS physical and pain intensity. We constructed linear and mixed effect models on pooled data from 171 participants of several studies, of which 97 had repeated measures. Cross-sectional analyses showed no significant effect of age, sex or CS intensity. Repeated measures analyses revealed a significant effect of CS physical intensity (<i>p</i> = 0.002) but not CS pain intensity (<i>p</i> = 0.159). Variance decomposition showed that inter-individual differences accounted for 24% to 34% of the variance in CPM while age, sex, and CS intensity together explained <3% to 12%. In conclusion, the variance in CPM explained by inter-individual differences largely exceeds that of commonly considered factors such as age, sex and CS intensity. This may explain why predictive capability of these factors has had conflicting results and suggests that future models investigating them should account for inter-individual differences.
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spelling doaj.art-9f25a86ea34e44bab1cd889a754dadd42023-11-22T12:14:22ZengMDPI AGBrain Sciences2076-34252021-09-01119118610.3390/brainsci11091186Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity CombinedPhilipp Graeff0Alina Itter1Katharina Wach2Ruth Ruscheweyh3Graduate School of Systemic Neuroscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 82152 Planegg, GermanyDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Großhadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 81377 Munich, GermanyDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Großhadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 81377 Munich, GermanyGraduate School of Systemic Neuroscience, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, 82152 Planegg, GermanyConditioned pain modulation (CPM) describes the reduction in pain evoked by a test stimulus (TS) when presented together with a heterotopic painful conditioning stimulus (CS). CPM has been proposed to reflect inter-individual differences in endogenous pain modulation, which may predict susceptibility for acute and chronic pain. Here, we aimed to estimate the relative variance in CPM explained by inter-individual differences compared to age, sex, and CS physical and pain intensity. We constructed linear and mixed effect models on pooled data from 171 participants of several studies, of which 97 had repeated measures. Cross-sectional analyses showed no significant effect of age, sex or CS intensity. Repeated measures analyses revealed a significant effect of CS physical intensity (<i>p</i> = 0.002) but not CS pain intensity (<i>p</i> = 0.159). Variance decomposition showed that inter-individual differences accounted for 24% to 34% of the variance in CPM while age, sex, and CS intensity together explained <3% to 12%. In conclusion, the variance in CPM explained by inter-individual differences largely exceeds that of commonly considered factors such as age, sex and CS intensity. This may explain why predictive capability of these factors has had conflicting results and suggests that future models investigating them should account for inter-individual differences.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/9/1186conditioned pain modulationendogenous analgesiaconditioning stimulusinterindividual factorsCPM variability
spellingShingle Philipp Graeff
Alina Itter
Katharina Wach
Ruth Ruscheweyh
Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity Combined
Brain Sciences
conditioned pain modulation
endogenous analgesia
conditioning stimulus
interindividual factors
CPM variability
title Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity Combined
title_full Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity Combined
title_fullStr Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity Combined
title_full_unstemmed Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity Combined
title_short Inter-Individual Differences Explain More Variance in Conditioned Pain Modulation Than Age, Sex and Conditioning Stimulus Intensity Combined
title_sort inter individual differences explain more variance in conditioned pain modulation than age sex and conditioning stimulus intensity combined
topic conditioned pain modulation
endogenous analgesia
conditioning stimulus
interindividual factors
CPM variability
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/11/9/1186
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