Biofeedback Training to Control Pain Processing

Relaxation is a low-cost treatment for managing pain with little or no side effects. The proposed study will use a novel biofeedback procedure to try to enhance the ability of relaxation to engage pain inhibition. Specifically, a biofeedback system will be used to provide training in conditioned pain regulation. The biofeedback system will monitor the trainee's level of sympathetic arousal and use it to control the intensity of painful stimulations delivered to the trainee during biofeedback. So when the trainee successfully relaxes (and reduced arousal), the intensity is lowered and produces pain relief. Efficacy of the training will be tested in a randomized controlled trial in which healthy, pain-free trainees are assigned to receive 3 training sessions or 3 sessions of a control procedure (2 other procedures will serve as controls; 3 groups total). The aim will be to assess whether the training results in inhibition of experimental pain and the nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR, a physiological marker of spinal pain signaling) to determine whether brain-to-spinal cord inhibitory circuits are engaged.

Inclusion criteria

• healthy pain free individuals over the age of 18.

Exclusion criteria

• under 18 years of age (given the nature of the study)
• history of serious cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, or neurological disorders
• hypertension (due to a relationship between blood pressure and pain);5 4) history of chronic pain
• current opioid, antidepressant, or anxiolytic medication use
• psychosis or apparent cognitive impairment
• body mass index>35 (due to difficulty eliciting an NFR in persons with high adiposity)
• inability to understand and read English (questionnaires and consent form are in English)
• recent use of an over-the-counter pain medication (within the last 24 hours) or narcotic medication (within the last two weeks)
• history of panic attacks. No one will be excluded based on ethnic, racial, or gender characteristics.