Effects of temperature on heat pain adaptation and habituation in men and women

• Published in: Pain (Amsterdam) Vol. 151; no. 3; pp. 737 - 743
• Main Authors: Hashmi, Javeria A., Davis, Karen D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA Elsevier B.V 01.12.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adaptation; Adaptation, Physiological - physiology; Adult; Area Under Curve; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Habituation; Habituation, Psychophysiologic - physiology; Heat pain; Hot Temperature; Humans; Illness and personality; Illness, stress and coping; Male; Pain - physiopathology; Pain Measurement; Pain Threshold - physiology; Psychology and medicine; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Psychophysics; Sex Characteristics; Sex differences; Sex Factors; Somesthesis and somesthetic pathways (proprioception, exteroception, nociception); interoception; electrolocation. Sensory receptors; Temperature; Temporal summation; Vertebrates: nervous system and sense organs; Temporal summation; Temperature; Sex differences; Psychophysics; Heat pain; Adaptation; Habituation; Human; Pain; Sex; Temperature effect

We recently reported that women report greater pain adaptation and habituation to moderately painful heat stimuli than men (Hashmi and Davis [16]); but slightly lower temperatures were needed to evoke moderate pain in the women. Hardy et al (1962) and LaMotte (1979) suggested that pain adaptation is...