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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 30, 2009, 29(39):12125-12130; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3072-09.2009

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
Visually Induced Analgesia: Seeing the Body Reduces Pain

Matthew R. Longo,1 Viviana Betti,2,3 Salvatore M. Aglioti,2,3 and Patrick Haggard1

1Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London WC1N 3AR, United Kingdom, 2Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza," I-00185 Rome, Italy, and 3Instituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico Fondazione Santa Lucia, I-00179 Rome, Italy

Correspondence should be addressed to Matthew R. Longo, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK. Email: m.longo{at}ucl.ac.uk

Given previous reports of strong interactions between vision and somatic senses, we investigated whether vision of the body modulates pain perception. Participants looked into a mirror aligned with their body midline at either the reflection of their own left hand (creating the illusion that they were looking directly at their own right hand) or the reflection of a neutral object. We induced pain using an infrared laser and recorded nociceptive laser-evoked potentials (LEPs). We also collected subjective ratings of pain intensity and unpleasantness. Vision of the body produced clear analgesic effects on both subjective ratings of pain and the N2/P2 complex of LEPs. Similar results were found during direct vision of the hand, without the mirror. Furthermore, these effects were specific to vision of one's own hand and were absent when viewing another person's hand. These results demonstrate a novel analgesic effect of non-informative vision of the body.

Received June 29, 2009; revised July 28, 2009; accepted Aug. 16, 2009.

Correspondence should be addressed to Matthew R. Longo, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AR, UK. Email: m.longo{at}ucl.ac.uk






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