Summary: Immersive virtual reality can reduce painful sensations associated with nerve injury and strengthen the body’s own pain‑inhibiting mechanisms.
Source: University of Plymouth
People experience pain in different ways, and those with nerve damage often develop impaired pain‑suppression systems that make everyday sensations painful or unpleasant.
New research finds that virtual reality (VR) can reduce pain responses typically seen after nerve injury and can enhance conditioned pain modulation (CPM) — a key pathway the nervous system uses to inhibit pain. By strengthening CPM, VR may offer a non‑pharmacological tool to help manage chronic pain conditions linked to nerve dysfunction.
The study was led by Dr Sam Hughes, Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Plymouth, in collaboration with researchers at Imperial College London. Their earlier work showed that watching calming 360° Arctic scenes in immersive VR reduced pain sensations similar to sunburn. This follow‑up work explored whether the same immersive environment could influence types of pain common after nerve injury, such as prickling or pain provoked by touch, and whether VR directly affects endogenous pain inhibition (CPM).
Published in The Journal of Pain, the trial compared immersive 360° Arctic VR scenes to 2D presentations of the exact same footage (referred to as “sham VR”). The immersive VR condition increased CPM efficiency relative to baseline, while the 2D sham condition unexpectedly reduced CPM efficiency. This suggests that true immersion, rather than the visual content alone, is crucial for engaging top‑down pain control.
Dr Hughes commented that these results strengthen the evidence that VR can do more than simply distract from pain: immersive VR appears to modulate physiological pain‑inhibiting processes. He noted that the next necessary step is to test the approach in people living with chronic pain to determine whether the laboratory findings translate to clinical benefit.
If subsequent clinical trials confirm these effects, immersive VR could become a useful adjunct to existing pain management strategies. By targeting dysfunctional brain and spinal mechanisms that underpin chronic pain, VR could help reduce reliance on medications and improve quality of life for people with nerve‑related pain.
About this neurotech research news
Source: University of Plymouth
Contact: Amy King – University of Plymouth
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Closed access. “Exposure to an Immersive Virtual Reality Environment can Modulate Perceptual Correlates of Endogenous Analgesia and Central Sensitization in Healthy Volunteers” by Sam Hughes et al. Journal of Pain
Abstract
Exposure to an Immersive Virtual Reality Environment can Modulate Perceptual Correlates of Endogenous Analgesia and Central Sensitization in Healthy Volunteers
Highlights
- •Immersive virtual reality (VR) enhanced conditioned pain modulation (CPM) efficiency.
- •Non‑immersive 2D presentation (sham VR) reduced CPM efficiency compared to baseline.
- •Neither immersive nor sham VR altered acute heat pain thresholds.
- •Real and sham VR did not change pain ratings during the CPM conditioning stimulus.
- •Immersive VR reduced mechanical pain sensitivity in a human surrogate model of central sensitization.
Abstract
Virtual reality has demonstrated analgesic effects across experimental and clinical pain situations, but the higher‑level mechanisms remain incompletely understood. This study investigated whether an immersive Arctic VR environment and its non‑immersive 2D equivalent (sham VR) influence conditioned pain modulation and responses in a human model of central sensitization.
Thirty‑eight healthy volunteers took part. Researchers measured CPM and acute heat pain thresholds before and during exposure to immersive or sham VR without any induced sensitization. In a follow‑up experiment, they induced a state resembling central sensitization using high‑frequency cutaneous stimulation and assessed mechanical pain sensitivity in an area of secondary (heterotopic) sensitization before and during VR or sham exposure.
Results showed a significant increase in CPM efficiency during immersive VR compared with baseline (P < .01). By contrast, the sham 2D condition produced a decrease in CPM efficiency relative to both baseline (P < .01) and the immersive VR condition (P < .001). Neither condition affected pain ratings reported during the CPM conditioning period or altered heat pain thresholds. Importantly, immersive VR also attenuated mechanical pain sensitivity in the sensitization model, indicating lower hypersensitivity compared with sham (P < .05).
The investigators conclude that while immersive VR does not change acute heat pain thresholds, it can enhance dynamic endogenous pain‑inhibitory responses (CPM) and reduce mechanical hypersensitivity in healthy volunteers. These findings point to immersive VR as a promising avenue for targeting central mechanisms involved in chronic pain and support further clinical testing in patients with nerve injury and persistent pain.