Temporal summation of the thermal grill illusion is comparable to that observed following noxious heat

The thermal grill illusion (TGI) describes a peculiar or even painful percept caused by non-noxious, interlaced warm and cold stimuli. It involves the glutamatergic system and is affected in putatively nociplastic syndromes such as fibromyalgia. The glutamatergic system is also involved in wind-up, that is, the increased activation of spinal neurons following repeated noxious stimulation leading to a temporal summation of perceived stimulus intensity. Here we combined both stimulation methods to further investigate whether non-noxious stimuli as employed in the TGI can lead to a similar summation of perceived stimulus intensity.
Source: The Journal of Pain - Category: Materials Science Authors: Tags: Original Reports Source Type: research