• Christopher R France, Shannon A Froese, and Jesse C Stewart.
• Department of Psychology, Ohio University, 245 Porter Hall, Athens, OH 45701, USA. france@ohio.edu
• Pain. 2002 Jul 1; 98 (1-2): 101-8.

AbstractPrevious evidence indicates that individuals with hypertension and those at increased risk for the disorder exhibit decreased pain perception. To test the hypothesis that attenuation of nociceptive processing in individuals at genetic risk for hypertension is related to differential central modulation of nociceptive transmission, the present study examined descending modulation, alpha-motoneuron excitability, and temporal summation of nociceptive input in young adults with and without a parental history of hypertension. Nociceptive flexion (NFR) and non-nociceptive Hoffman reflexes were assessed at rest and during performance of a mental arithmetic task. Temporal summation was assessed by examining NFR threshold in response to a series of five electrical pulses delivered at 2 Hz. Compared to participants without a parental history of hypertension, offspring of individuals with hypertension exhibited significantly higher NFR thresholds, suggesting that risk for hypertension may be associated with enhanced activation of central pain inhibition pathways.

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