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Tuesday, November 05, 2002Herta Flor, a German neuropsychologist, reported that when unpleasant electrical stimulation was applied to the backs of chronic back-pain patients, their brain activity associated with pain was almost three-times greater when their spouses were in the room. The effect was not seen when the stimulus was applied to a finger rather than the back, or when the spouse was the type who distracts from the pain rather than focusing attention on it. The explanation, Flor said, is ''a simple learning mechanism: If a behavior is followed by a positive consequence, the behavior will increase.'' The study was small, but experience bears it out. This behavior has a name in medical circles - "secondary gain," and it's another reason that the assessment and treatment of pain with a numerical "pain scale" is so inadequate. posted by Sydney on 11/05/2002 07:17:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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