Pain
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The ability to determine precisely the location of sensory stimuli is fundamental to how we interact with the world; indeed, to our survival. Crossing the hands over the body midline impairs this ability to localize tactile stimuli. We hypothesized that crossing the arms would modulate the intensity of pain evoked by noxious stimulation of the hand. ⋯ Besides studies showing relief of phantom limb pain using mirrors, this is the first evidence that impeding the processes by which the brain localises a noxious stimulus can reduce pain, and that this effect reflects modulation of multimodal neural activities. By showing that the neural mechanisms by which pain emerges from nociception represent a possible target for analgesia, we raise the possibility of novel approaches to the treatment of painful clinical conditions. Crossing the arms over the midline impairs multimodal processing of somatosensory stimuli and induces significant analgesia to noxious hand stimulation.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Long-term effects of routine morphine infusion in mechanically ventilated neonates on children's functioning: five-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial.
Newborns on ventilatory support often receive morphine to induce analgesia. Animal experiments suggest that this may impair subsequent cognitive and behavioral development. There are sparse human data on long-term effects of neonatal morphine. ⋯ However, scores on one IQ subtest, "visual analysis," were significantly negatively related to having received morphine and to open-label morphine consumption the first 28 days. The finding of a significant effect of morphine on the "visual analysis" IQ subtest calls for follow-up at a later age focusing on the higher-order neurocognitive functions. Morphine received in the neonatal period has negative effects on the child's cognitive functioning at the age of 5 years which warrants follow-up at a later age.
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Distinct developmental trajectories for neck disability and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms after whiplash injury have recently been identified. This study aimed to identify baseline predictors of membership to these trajectories and to explore their dual development. In a prospective study, 155 individuals with whiplash were assessed at <1 month, 3, 6, and 12 months postinjury. ⋯ These findings support the proposal of links between the development of chronic neck related disability and PTSD after whiplash injury. Developmental trajectories of disability and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after whiplash injury are mostly in synchrony, and similar factors predict their membership. This suggests links between the development of chronic neck pain-related disability and PTSD.