New publications
Scientists will be able to measure pain threshold in humans
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Neuroscientists from Colorado have conducted several studies that have shown that the level of pain people experience can be assessed using a newly developed scale.
The main indicator for determining the level of pain will be certain areas of the brain. A popular American science magazine published a report on the experiments conducted and information that specialists are developing a universal tomograph that will be able to determine different levels of pain. Until now, there was no universal method for measuring human pain. The maximum that modern medicine has achieved is questionnaires and interviews with patients. American neurophysiologists have found a new way to determine and identify pain. A complex network of nerve cells was discovered in human brain tissue, the activity of which will help determine how strong the pain is, for example, with a burn. Specialists were able to determine pain indicators in the human body. The results of pain measurements were obtained after a comparative analysis of the brain activity of the experiment participants. More than a hundred volunteers took part in the study. With the help of a tomograph, specialists were able to assess the level of pain that the experiment participants felt after burns. The experiment consisted of each of the volunteer participants touching metal several times, which could be hot, cold or warm. During the study, specialists monitored the activity and reaction of the brain to changes in the temperature of the metal. The most important areas of the brain for the results of the study were those that were most active.
An unexpected discovery was the fact that the areas of brain activity at the moment of touching the metal product were approximately the same for all participants in the experiment. Before this study, specialists believed that each person's pain centers are individual and located in different areas of the brain.
The results of the study showed that the activity of pain centers was not affected by the temperature of the metal: the same pain centers responded to both warm and hot metal. The discovery allowed specialists to develop a universal algorithm for measuring the level of pain. This algorithm can be used to assess the strength of pain in each person.
Currently, scientists are studying the influence of brain activity on various types of pain. Specialists intend to test the developed method for studying chronic pain. There is information that other parts of the brain are involved during chronic pain and specialists intend to study them in more detail. The head of the study is confident that if they manage to determine the indicators of chronic pain, in the near future doctors will be able to alleviate the suffering of those people who are susceptible to chronic diseases. It is interesting that the indicators of mental pain have nothing to do with the indicators of physical pain. Other parts of the brain are responsible for mental suffering, which have not been sufficiently studied.
[