The DOI matches its Crossref record; 70 of the 70 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Total sleep deprivation increases pain sensitivity, impairs conditioned pain modulation and facilitates temporal summation of pain in healthy participants
Open accessAbstract
Chronic pain patients often suffer from insomnia or impaired sleep which has been associated with increased pain sensitivity, but a limited amount of studies have investigated the effects of total sleep deprivation on central pain mechanisms. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the effects of total sleep deprivation on temporal summation, conditioned pain modulation, thermal and pressure pain sensitivity in healthy participants. Twenty-four healthy participants took part in this two-session trial. The measurements were conducted after a night of habitual sleep (baseline) and following 24 hours of total sleep deprivation. Detection thresholds for cold and warmth and pain thresholds for cold and heat were assessed. Cuff induced pressure pain detection and tolerance thresholds, temporal summation and conditioned pain modulation were assessed with user-independent, computer-controlled cuff algometry. Conditioned pain modulation was significantly impaired, temporal summation was significantly facilitated and pain sensitivity to pressure and cold pain were significantly increased at follow-up compared with baseline. In conclusion, this study found that one night of total sleep deprivation impaired descending pain pathways, facilitated spinal excitability and sensitized peripheral pathways to cold and pressure pain. Future studies are encouraged to investigate if sleep therapy might normalize pain sensitivity in sleep-deprived chronic pain patients.
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“Sleep-related variables have been shown to predict pain-related outcomes such as disability [74], and sleep disruption is related to increased pain sensitivity and lowered pain thresholds [75].”
From ACTsmart: Guided Smartphone-Delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain—A Pilot Trial. (2021) · cites this paper as [75]
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Optimizing Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention Through Lifestyle Medicine
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Metadata
- Authors
- Staffe, A. T., Bech, M. W., Clemmensen, S. L. K., Nielsen, H. T., Larsen, D. B., & Petersen, K. K.
- Affiliations
- Aalborg University (DK)
- Corresponding author
- Petersen, Kristian Kjær
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2019-12-04
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- e0225849
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6892491
- OpenAlex
- W2991704716
- Cited by
- 150
- References
- 70
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 30 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 9.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- VBN Forskningsportal (Aalborg Universitet) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Danmarks Grundforskningsfond (DNRF121)
- Aalborg Universitet (771126)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
- Keywords
- total sleep deprivation, pain sensitivity, conditioned pain modulation, temporal summation, descending pain modulation, thermal pain, pressure pain, cold pain, pain detection threshold, pain tolerance, spinal cord excitability, chronic pain, insomnia, sleep therapy
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Denmark, Female, Humans, Male, Pain Measurement, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, Thermosensing, Pain Threshold, Young Adult, Public Health Surveillance
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