perception of pain is a subjective experience, and some people experience pain more or less severely than others. It has been suggested that pain signals that enter the spinal cord can be modified, amplified or diminished or completely blocked before they enter the brain.supporting this theory are the many accounts of how people injured on battlefields or while playing sports do not experience pain until much later.
yes we can alter and reduce the intensity of pain by developing risk taking behavior . When brain is focused on environment more than self existence. Moreover when attention is diverted and a person is not self aware then he may not feel the pain. Because it all related to our brain when our sensory receptors see a barrier during sending signals to brain.
Anything that changes your brain’s evaluation of danger will change pain.
Here are two interesting studies that cover what you are asking for:
1. Article The context of a noxious stimulus affects the pain it evokes
2. Article The meaning of pain influences its experienced intensity
Hello Maryam,
Just a quick note: there is no such thing as pain signals, only nociception. Nociception can be related to pain, but it doesn't have to be. Nociception is a neurological phenomena, while pain is a perception, or a human experience.
One can sense pain in the absence of nociception (i.e., phantom pain, and also: Article Nocebo effects can make you feel pain
,Article Nocebo as headache trigger: Evidence from a sham-controlled ...
, and many more).But also nociception can be occur without producing pain, as in the example you mentioned.
I believe that in the short term at least, pain can be manipulated by the CNS, as it is likely to be a product of the CNS.
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