Nostalgic feelings can have a pain-relieving effect, Chinese researchers have found.

When dealing with pain, you probably first think of the well-known paracetamol. But nostalgic feelings can also ease pain, so late a new study seeing psychologist Ming Zhang and colleagues. In addition, the researchers are using brain scans to try to uncover the mechanism behind this psychological painkiller.

heated skin

For the experiment, subjects between the ages of 18 and 25 were shown either photos of places or objects from their childhood, or photos showing current locations or items. Then a device on their forearm made them feel pain by heating their skin. In addition, the participants in whom nostalgic feelings were aroused experienced less pain than the other participants.

At least, up to a point. In severe pain (more than seven on a scale from zero to ten), there was no longer any difference between the subjects who had viewed nostalgic pictures and the other subjects. “The effect of nostalgic feelings may last longer with a low pain intensity,” the researchers write. “Another cause could be that severe pain demands more of the brain and therefore weakens the nostalgic effect.”

Connection station

This effect is not very surprising, says Bert Joosten, professor of experimental anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University Hospital Maastricht UMC+. “It has been known for some time that positive emotions can have an effect on pain. You can see nostalgia as a positive emotion, so it is not surprising that this phenomenon also has an effect on pain thresholds.”

In addition, the new study by Zhang and her team elaborates on, among other things this study from 2020, who already found an effect of nostalgia on pain. What sets the new study apart is that the subjects were also in a fMRI scanner were laid. That provided a glimpse of how nostalgia can affect the amount of pain a person experiences.

The thalamus, the brain’s ‘connection station’, plays an important role in this. According to the researchers, that processes pain differently under the influence of nostalgia, and relays that information to a region of the brainstem known as the brainstem. periaquaductal gray† That brain area would then send a signal to the front part of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, so that the pain is experienced as less severe.

Different generations

Joosten also finds the results of the fMRI part of the research not very surprising. “The brain regions mentioned are already known to be involved in pain and pain management. I see this more as confirmation of what we already knew than as a new insight.”

In addition, he notes, the subjects were all very young. “It is certainly important to see whether the effect of nostalgia also occurs in older subjects, and perhaps is even stronger. This is because the majority of chronic pain patients are older.” The researchers themselves recognize this as well. “Similar studies looking at different generations would certainly be helpful.”