Have you ever tripped and fell and felt an enormous amount of pain? The same thing can happen to your friend except he or she may barely feel anything. Why can people tolerate pain better than others? Is there a scientific reasoning behind this or is it just who you are? According to recent studies to this question, it deals with your brain.
People deal with pain differently due to how their brain is actually structured. According to new studies conducted by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, pain that individuals feel is linked to the amount of grey matter located in the brain. The grey matter of the brain is extremely crucial because it makes up a substantial portion of the central nervous system and consists of the brain’s neuronal cell bodies. A particular study conducted by the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center took a sample of 116 persons and measured each of their pain tolerance by exposing them to a slight pain stimulant. The researchers asked the individuals to tell them the level of their pain when a portion of their skin was subject to a temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Nichole Emerson reported the results of the study, “Subjects with higher pain intensity ratings had less grey matter in brain regions that contribute to internal thoughts and control of attention.” Based on this study and various others, researchers could determine that evaluating one’s brain structure can help determine his or her pain tolerance. Robert Coghill agreed with this statement by stating, “These kinds of structural differences can provide a foundation for the development of better tools for the diagnosis, classification, treatment, and even prevention of pain.”
Coghill participated in a 2003 study in which he used MRIs to evaluate brain functions of various people. His researchers determined that the volunteers who confirmed they felt a great amount of pain when being exposed to the heat stimulus had brain activation in regions that are significant in feeling pain. Contrasting this, the people who only declared having a small amount of pain to the heat stimulus had only a little brain activation in the pain areas. This study showed a strong correlation, but there are some flaws in this experiment (as with all experiments). Tis study was only conducted with a small sample of people (only 17). The results could have been different if they performed the experiment on a greater variety of individuals. Also, differences in pain levels can be due to other confounding variables. Cognitive factors such as previous experiences with a great amount of pain and that person’s mental state of mind when they are exposed to the stimulus.
Even more interesting, it has been discovered that women have a lower pain tolerance than males. A 2002 study displayed this difference between women and men’s pain entry. William Maixner, who has a PhD in the Center for Neurosensory Disorders at the University of North Carolina, declared that an opioid called beta endorphins (blood alleviating substance) released. Women’s bodies tend to release fewer of the beta endorphins than do males. However, a factor that could critique this study is that there are other elements that could cause someone to feel a significant amount of pain in that certain time period. Critical life events such as a close family member losing a job, a traumatic accident or illness, or even the death of a close relative can increase the stress level of the individual, which can increase the amount of pain felt (ultimately decreasing pain tolerance). Studies that show women feeling more pain than males has a strong link to why due to a lack of certain hormones such as the beta endorphins mentioned above, but the results of these studies can also be due to change and third variables.
Overall, the reason people have a higher pain tolerance than others is due to the amount of grey matter located in the brain. But, other factors such as what that individual experienced that day or any traumatic events that have occurred can easily cause one to feel more pain. Stress is often linked to pain. Think about this next time you get injured and evaluate how much pain you are feeling and why.
Sources:
http://www.ibtimes.com/why-do-some-people-tolerate-pain-better-others-new-study-links-pain-sensitivity-grey-matter-brain
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/06/030624090043.htm
http://www.webmd.com/women/features/low-pain-threshold-heres-why
Interesting topic. I wonder though if because women are typically smaller than men, that is why it seems like they have a lower pain tolerance. I think to make this study better they should try and find people of the same weight and height, and conduct it this way. Then we could see how a persons size affects the amount of brain activity in the regions where pain is felt. In an article I found, it said that women reported feeling more pain but it did not report what their tolerance of this pain was. Yea they may be feeling the pain, but how are they responding to it versus the men? I found this to be an interesting twist on the topic.
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/features/whats-your-pain-tolerance
I’ve actually heard before that women can endure more pain than men. I have no idea which is true and according to Andrew, my intuition is lowsy, however, I would think that women could endure more than men. This is because women must endure childbirth, so evolutionary maybe this would be the case? However, now I’m looking it up online to find articles to support my hypothesis but I’ve found out I’m wrong. It’s something that can be hard to perform studies on because people all react differently to pain and share it differently.