Nostalgia can reduce pain perception by decreasing activity in pain-related brain areas as well as subjective ratings of thermal pain, according to a recent study. It’s something worth trying.

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences used imaging technology to measure study participants’ brain activity while rating both the pain of a thermal stimulus and nostalgia levels induced by various images. The nostalgic images featured scenes and items from an average childhood, like a popular candy, cartoon TV show, and schoolyard game. A control group rated pain but instead looked at corresponding scenes and items from modern life.

Viewing nostalgic images reduced pain ratings compared to viewing control images, with the strongest effect on low-intensity pain. Viewing nostalgic images also reduced activity in two brain regions implicated in pain perception, the left lingual gyrus and the parahippocampal gyrus. Activity in the thalamus, a brain region involved in relaying information between the body and the cortex, was linked to both nostalgia and pain ratings, suggesting that the thalamus may integrate nostalgia information and transmit it to pain pathways.

The bottom line, according to the authors: Nostalgia may be a drug-free way to alleviate low levels of pain, like headaches or mild clinical pain.

To read the abstract of the Journal of Neuroscience study, click here

 

Do you have news to share?
The ICAA welcomes your news submissions. Please send your press releases to colinmilner@icaa.cc-the ICAA's email for submissions-and staff will consider your news for possible publication. Newsworthy topics include such things as center/community openings; initiative or campaign launches; announcements of awards, promotions or grants; and other topics of interest to active-aging professionals.

Share