We really can think away pain

by TIM UTTON, Daily Mail

Mind over matter really does work, say scientists, especially when it comes to shutting out pain.

It seems a simple technique can help victims surpress their feelings of agony.

The discovery could help to explain how fire-walkers are able to walk over hot coals with apparant nonchalence.

Volunteers in an experiment had to endure painful heat on the palm of their hands while undergoing a brain scan. As the heat was applied, they watched a computer showing their brain activity in the region that deals with pain.

They were asked to concentrate on decreasing the activity visible on the screen. After just three sessions of 13 minutes each they could decrease the pain signals just by concentrating on them.

Manipulating brain signals

In effect, they were manipulating the signals being sent by the brain - reducing the amount of pain they felt in their hand. The technique is called "biofeedback".

Similar methods have been used to treat epilepsy and behaviour problems such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

Mice have also been trained to alter their own brainwave pain signals through a process called "conditioned learning", where an altered brainwave state was rewarded by direct stimulation of the brain's pleasure centre.

But the technique has never before been used to prevent pain in humans, reports New Scientist magazine.

Eight volunteers took part in the study at Stanford University, California. They were asked to focus on part of the brain called the rostral anterior cingulate.

Its activity was shown on a screen either as a flame that varied in size or a scrolling bar graph. The volunteers were able to reduce its activity.

However, none could explain how they did it - suggesting the hidden powers of the brain may hold many other secrets. The effect seemed to last beyond the scanner sessions, but it was not yet clear for how long.

Study leaders Fumiko Maeda and Christopher de Charms presented the results at a meeting of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society in San Francisco last week.

They hope the technique might also help to lessen the effects of depression or dementia. It might even help to boost normal brain function, say the scientists.

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