Daydreamers feel more pain compared to those who are focused because of a difference in their brain structures, according a recent study.
Scientists have shown how a person's sensitivity to pain is determined by the make-up of their brain. They found pain thresholds among people vary widely and brain structure could provide a clue to these differences. Professor Robert Coghill, a U.S neurobiological expert who led the study at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, said: "We found that individual differences in the amount of grey matter in certain regions of the brain are related to how sensitive different people are to pain."
The team of researchers investigated the relationship between the amount of grey matter and individual differences in pain sensitivity in 116 healthy volunteers. Fellow study author Nichole Emerson said: "Subjects with higher pain intensity ratings had less grey matter in brain regions that contribute to internal thoughts and control of attention." These regions include the posterior cingulate, cortex, precuneus and areas of the posterior parietal cortex.
Professor Coghill said: "Default mode activity may compete with brain activity that generates an experience of pain, such that individuals with high default mode activity would have reduced sensitivity to pain. Areas of the posterior parietal cortex play an important role in attention. Individuals who can best keep their attention focused may also be best at keeping pain under control. These kinds of structural differences can provide a foundation for the development of better tools for the diagnosis, classification, treatment and even prevention of pain." Results of the study were published in the journal Pain.
