(358) The Effects of Pleasant, Chill-Inducing Music on Acute Pain in Healthy Volunteers: An fMRI Study

Abstract

Pleasant music has been shown to attenuate the perception of pain intensity. To better understand the mechanism of this perceptual effect, we examined neural responses to acute thermal pain in the presence of pleasant chill-inducing music, using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Individual moderate pain levels (7 out of 10 on a Numerical Rating Scale) were first determined in nineteen healthy volunteers (both sexes, mean age 22±2.5). Prior to the scanning session, participants provided their own favorite chill-inducing musical excerpts. Painful stimulation of moderate intensity, administered at the peak of the pleasure-invoking response (i.e., the chill), was contrasted to the same painful stimulation presented alone and in the context of neutral (artificially constructed) music. At the end of the experiment, participants retrospectively rated pain intensity and emotional unpleasantness of the pain presented in different contexts. Consistent with prior research, pain intensity and unpleasantness were lower in the presence of chill-inducing music. Regions of the pain neuromatrix, such as the insular cortex (IC), secondary somatosensory cortex, and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), were less active for pain presented alone or with neutral music than to pain presented in the context of chill-inducing music. Documented functional changes within the pain neuromatrix reflect multisensory mechanisms that modulate pain intensity.