Cover Image: September 2009 Scientific American Magazine See Inside

MIND on Pain: Why People Experience Pain Differently [Preview]

Researchers are unraveling why some people are more sensitive to pain than others. Their efforts could lead to more accurate diagnoses, better pain prevention, and safer, more powerful painkillers














Share on Tumblr



Image: WIN-INITIATIVE/GETTY IMAGES

In Brief

  • Human beings at large differ in how sensitive they are to pain. Much of the variation is apparently random. But gender matters. Women tend to hurt more than men do. Ethnicity can also interface with ache; some ethnic groups are more tolerant of discomfort than others are.
  • In the past few years researchers have begun unraveling the genetic roots of these differences. They are also pinpointing social, cultural and psychological components that play parts in pain sensitivity.
  • Assessing patients’ vulnerability to anguish may be essential to accurately judging the severity of their condition. It is also critical to deciding how to treat individuals’ pain. Revealing the molecular causes of individual variation in pain perception is already providing potential targets for novel pain medications.

One day as a child Billy Smith (not his real name), a resident of Newfoundland, could not take off his shoe. No amount of twisting or tugging would loosen its grip on his foot. The reason for his struggle eventually surfaced: a nail had pierced the sole and entered Smith’s flesh, tightly binding the two. Removing the nail freed the foot, but solving that problem only underscored a bigger one: Smith had not noticed.

Smith is among a tiny cluster of people, fewer than 30 in the world, who harbor a genetic quirk that renders them incapable of perceiving pain. “These humans are completely healthy, of normal intelligence, but don’t know what pain is,” says clinical geneticist C. Geoffrey Woods, who studied a group of such patients from northern Pakistan. They can sense touch, heat, vibration and their body’s position in space. Yet for them, root canals are painless, as are falls, fires and whacks on the head with a baseball bat. One woman with so-called congenital indifference to pain (CIP) delivered a baby without discomfort.


Buy This Issue
If your institution has site license access, enter here.

10 Comments

Add Comment
View
  1. 1. wildeval 12:50 PM 8/27/09

    YOU WANT ME TO PAY TO READ THE REST OF ONE (1) ARTICLE??? NO WAY JOS�!!! OUTRAGEOUS I'LL GO TO THE NEW YORK TIMES OR ELSEWHERE INSTEAD

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  2. 2. pt_char 02:19 PM 8/27/09

    As a physical thrapist, I find this article extremely interesting but I question the portion of the article that discusses female hormone levels and the effect they have on pain perception. I find that women (myself included) have more pain toward the end of their mentrual cycle (when estrogen is lower), not higher as the article suggests. I have also experienced more pain while taking birth control pills. Perhaps, there is another chemical phenomenon.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  3. 3. desotojohn 01:58 PM 8/30/09

    Since I am a subscriber to the printed version of Scientific American, I see no reason why I should have to pay for on line access or on line articles.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  4. 4. desotojohn 02:00 PM 8/30/09

    I subscribe to the printed version of Scientific American. I don't understand why you charge extra for on line access.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  5. 5. potsushi 06:15 PM 8/31/09

    incredible - you want me to pay twice for the same article. you should be ashamed of yourselves

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  6. 6. enigmas 04:51 PM 9/10/09

    I'm subscribed to the printed SciAm and I have to pay again?

    -_-?

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  7. 7. sciresearch 07:03 PM 9/20/09

    how interesting...

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  8. 8. BunnyBabii 11:31 AM 10/27/09

    intriguing.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  9. 9. sleekmason 11:51 PM 1/10/10

    Very, if you really see the patterns that shouldn't exist ...

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
  10. 10. suzannez in reply to pt_char 12:56 PM 1/3/12

    Estrogen levels are the highest right before the onset of your period (their drastic drop is what brings it on). Counting the onset as day 1 of your cycle.

    Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this
Leave this field empty

Add a Comment

You must sign in or register as a ScientificAmerican.com member to submit a comment.
Click one of the buttons below to register using an existing Social Account.

More from Scientific American

Follow Us:

See what we're tweeting about

Scientific American MIND

More »

Free Newsletters


Get the best from Scientific American in your inbox

Solve Innovation Challenges

Powered By: Innocentive

  SA Digital
  SA Digital

Science Jobs of the Week

Email this Article

MIND on Pain: Why People Experience Pain Differently: Scientific American Mind

X
Scientific American Mind

Subscribe Today

Save 66% off the cover price and get a free gift!

Learn More >>

X

Please Log In

Forgot: Password

X

Account Linking

Welcome, . Do you have an existing ScientificAmerican.com account?

Yes, please link my existing account with for quick, secure access.



Forgot Password?

No, I would like to create a new account with my profile information.

Create Account
X

Report Abuse

Are you sure?

X

Institutional Access

It has been identified that the institution you are trying to access this article from has institutional site license access to Scientific American on nature.com. To access this article in its entirety through site license access, click below.

Site license access
X

Error

X

Share this Article

X