Nostalgia Can Relieve Pain: Viewing Images From Childhood Reduces Pain Perception

Nostalgia Can Relieve Pain

Mind activation of the lingual gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus, areas concerned in ache notion, was considerably decreased after viewing nostalgic photos in comparison with management photos. Credit score: Zhang et al., JNeurosci 2021

Reflecting on fond recollections goes a step past making you're feeling heat and fuzzy: nostalgia can cut back ache notion. Nostalgia decreases exercise in pain-related mind areas and reduces subjective scores of thermal ache, in keeping with analysis not too long ago printed in JNeurosci.

Researchers from the Chinese language Academy of Sciences measured the mind exercise of adults with fMRI whereas the contributors rated the nostalgia ranges of photos and rated the ache of thermal stimuli. The nostalgic photos featured scenes and objects from a mean childhood, like a well-liked sweet, cartoon TV present, and schoolyard sport. Photographs within the management situation depicted corresponding scenes and objects from trendy life. Viewing nostalgic photos decreased ache scores in comparison with viewing management photos, with the strongest impact on low depth ache.

Viewing nostalgic photos additionally decreased exercise within the left lingual gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus, two mind areas implicated in ache notion. Exercise within the thalamus, a mind area concerned in relaying info between the physique and the cortex, was linked to each nostalgia and ache scores; the thalamus could combine nostalgia info and transmit it to ache pathways. Nostalgia could also be a drug-free strategy to alleviate low ranges of ache, like complications or delicate medical ache.

For extra on this examine, see Nostalgia Ache Reduction: Viewing Photographs From Childhood Reduces Ache Notion.

Reference: “Thalamocortical mechanisms for nostalgia-induced analgesia” by Ming Zhang, Ziyan Yang, Jiahui Zhong, Yuqi Zhang, Xiaomin Lin, Huajian Cai and Yazhuo Kong, 1 March 2022, JNeurosci.
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2123-21.2022

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