The role of consciousness in stress-induced analgesia.
Male rats received unavoidable footshock administered while either awake or under Halothane anaesthesia. Tail-flick threshold was measured subsequently in awake rats. An elevation in pain threshold indicative of stress-induced analgesia (SIA) appeared in rats shocked while awake, but not in those shocked while anaesthetized. The findings suggest that conscious processes are necessary for the occurrence of SIA.
D000698:Analgesia; D000758:Anesthesia; D000818:Animals; D003243:Consciousness; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology*