Favorite Music Mediates Pain-related Responses in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Skin Pain Thresholds

Iulia Antioch; Tsumugu Furuta; Ryutaro Uchikawa; Masayo Okumura; Junichi Otogoto; Eiji Kondo; Norio Sogawa; Alin Ciobica; Mihoko Tomida

doi:10.2147/JPR.S276274

Favorite Music Mediates Pain-related Responses in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Skin Pain Thresholds

J Pain Res. 2020 Oct 29:13:2729-2737. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S276274. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Iulia Antioch¹, Tsumugu Furuta², Ryutaro Uchikawa³, Masayo Okumura⁴, Junichi Otogoto², Eiji Kondo⁴, Norio Sogawa⁵, Alin Ciobica¹, Mihoko Tomida²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Research, Faculty of Biology, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania.
² Department of Oral Health Promotion, Graduate School of Oral Medicine, Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano, Japan.
³ Department of Dental Conservation, Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano, Japan.
⁴ Department of Oral Anatomy, Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano, Japan.
⁵ Department of Dental Pharmacology, Matsumoto Dental University, Nagano, Japan.

Abstract

Purpose: Music therapy is widely used to enhance well-being, reduce pain, and distract patients from unpleasant symptoms in the clinical setting. However, the degree to which music modulates pain perception is unknown. The medial pain pathway including the limbic system is associated with emotion, but how music alters pathway activity is unclear. The aim of the study was to investigate pain thresholds and pain-related responses in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and whether they were modulated when subjects listened to their favorite music genre.

Subjects and methods: First, 30 subjects were examined for left forearm pain threshold using electrical stimulation with Pain Vision PS-2011N. The pain thresholds with and without music were compared. Second, when an 80-μA current from Pain Vision was applied to the left ankle of eight women, the pain-related responses of the ACC with and without music were observed with functional magnetic resonance device (fMRI). The changes in the pain-related activity in both parameters were discussed.

Results: The median pain threshold with favorite music was 38.9 μA, compared to 29.0 μA without, which was significantly different (p<0.0001). The men's thresholds were significantly higher than women's both with music (p<0.05) and without music (p<0.01). The pain threshold in women was more strongly affected by music than in men. The fMRI results showed that the pain-related response in the ACC in five of eight subjects was attenuated while they listened to their favorite music. No change was observed in the other three subjects.

Conclusion: The present findings suggest that pain perception might be strongly affected by listening to favorite music, possibly through modulation of pain-related responses in the ACC.

Keywords: anterior cingulate cortex; forearm; medial pathway; music; pain threshold.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation of Japan (No. 25463158). Alin Ciobica and Iulia Antioch were supported by a research grant for Young Teams offered by UEFISCDI Romania, no. PN-III-P1-1.1-TE-2016-1210, contract no. 58 from 02/05/2018, called “Complex Study Regarding the Interactions Between Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Neurological Manifestations in the Pathophysiology of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Animal Models and Human Patients).”