Biological psychiatry
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Somatosensory perception threshold (SPT) and pain perception threshold (PPT) were studied in 16 patients with major depression, compared to the findings in an age-matched and gender-matched control group and related to the psychopathological state evaluated by means of the Hamilton Depression Scale. Perception thresholds were assessed by means of a noninvasive high-frequency electric skin stimulation. ⋯ RPPT was positively correlated with retardation. It was negatively correlated with anxiety, suggesting that a reduction of pain perception thresholds in depressive patients may be attributed to anxiety and impaired stress-coping.