Cognitive Conditioned Pain Modulation

NCT07234123 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CPM2025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 24
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This "pain reduces pain" study looks at how the brain reduces pain when a person feels two painful sensations at the same time. There is considerable evidence that the brain can "turn down" pain using natural endogenous pain-control systems. The current CPM study measures whether attentional processes can also make a measurable contribution to pain inhibition alongside neurochemical mechanisms.

Conditions

Healthy Participants

Keywords

Conditioned Pain Modulation

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• worst pain ratings of foot only

  graphic rating scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (excruciating pain)

  rated immediately after each thermal stimulus

• worst pain on graphic rating scale during test+conditioning stimulus

  graphic rating scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (excruciating pain)

  measured immediately after the stimuli

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• % of attention devoted to foot during test stimulus only (0-100% scale)

  rated immediately after the stimuli

• % of attention devoted to foot during test+conditioning stimuli (0-100% scale)

  rated immediately after the thermal stimuli

• Divided attention during test stimulus only (% correct, where 100% is highest accuracy)

  Day 1, during the thermal stimulus

• Divided attention during test stimulus + conditioning stimulus (% correct, 100% is highest )

  Day 1, during the thermal stimuli

Other Outcomes (4)

• distraction difficulty during test stimulus only (0 to 10 scale, where 10 is most distracting)

  immediately after the phase 1 thermal stimuli

• distraction difficult during simultaneous test + conditioning stimuli (graphic rating scale)

  Exploratory: immediately after the phase 1 thermal stimuli

• difficulty concentrating during test stimulus only (0 to 10 scale, 10 = most difficult concentr

  Exploratory: immediately after the phase 1 thermal stimuli

Study Arms (2)

Single pain stimulus

EXPERIMENTAL

test pain stimulus alone

Behavioral: test stimulus

dual pain stimuli

EXPERIMENTAL

simultaneous foot (test stimulus + wrist (conditioning stimulus)

Behavioral: conditioned pain modulation

Interventions

conditioned pain modulation BEHAVIORAL

simultaneous stimuli to foot (test stimulus) and wrist (conditioning stimulus)

dual pain stimuli

test stimulus BEHAVIORAL

single brief stimulus to foot only

Single pain stimulus

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Only University of Washington students in eligible psychological courses are
• eligible. General public is not eligible.
• Enrolled psychology students fluent in English,
• Age ≥18 y, able to follow instructions.

You may not qualify if:

• Seizure history,
• Migraines,
• Diabetes,
• Extreme pain insensitivity,
• Motion sickness,
• or prior participation in this protocol.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Washington: lead
• Mayday Fund: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Washington Seattle

Seattle, Washington, 98195, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Yarnitsky D. Conditioned pain modulation (the diffuse noxious inhibitory control-like effect): its relevance for acute and chronic pain states. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2010 Oct;23(5):611-5. doi: 10.1097/ACO.0b013e32833c348b.

  PMID: 20543676 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Hunter Hoffman

  University of Washington

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NON RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Research Scientist

Model Details: within-subject design

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 14, 2025
• First Posted: November 18, 2025
• Study Start: August 9, 2024
• Primary Completion: May 29, 2025
• Study Completion: May 29, 2025
• Last Updated: January 7, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-01

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Time Frame: The de-identified summary data will be available from time of publication for at least five years after publication.
• Access Criteria: The de-identified summary data will be e-mailed to researchers upon reasonable request

Locations

US (1)