title: Humans, but not animals, perceive the thermal grill illusion as painful.
abstract: Simultaneous presentation of alternating innocuous warm and cold stimuli induces in most humans a painful sensation called thermal grill illusion (TGI). Here, pain is elicited although nociceptors are not activated. Upon back-translation of behavioural correlates from humans to animals, we found that neither cats nor rodents show adverse reactions when exposed to TGI stimulation. These results question that a TGI observed as a pain-related change in behaviour can be elicited in animals. While distinct neuronal patterns as previously reported may be measurable in animals upon TGI stimulation, their translational meaning towards the sensation elicited in humans is unclear.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology I, University Hospital, Teichgraben 8, 07743 Jena, Germany. Electronic address: mkboettger@gmx.de.
authors.forename: Michael K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Boettger
authors.affiliation: Central Scientific Workshops (Zentrale Forschungswerkstätten), University Hospital, Teichgraben 8, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ditze
authors.affiliation: Psychiatric Brain & Body Research Group Jena, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital, Philosophenweg 9, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Karl-Juergen
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Bär
authors.affiliation: Bayer Animal Health GmbH, Alfred-Nobel-Straße 50, 40789 Monheim am Rhein, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Krüdewagen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physiology I, University Hospital, Teichgraben 8, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Georg
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Schaible
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D003080:Cold Temperature; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007088:Illusions; D051379:Mice; D010147:Pain Measurement; D058748:Pain Perception; D017288:Pain Threshold; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity; D013697:Thermosensing
keywords: Animal model; Behavioural assessment; Illusion of pain; Species differences; Thermal grill illusion; Translational medicine