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Objective Evaluation of Pain Perception in Patients with Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

R. Guieu ,
J. C. Samuélian  and
H. Coulouvrat
R. Guieu*
Affiliation:
Laborataire de Biochimie, Faculté de Médecine Secteur Nord, Bd P. Dramard, 13015 Marseille, France
J. C. Samuélian
Affiliation:
Chef de Service, Psychiatrie des Hospitaux
H. Coulouvrat
Affiliation:
Interne en Psychiatrie, Service de Psychiatrie d'Adultes, CHU Timone, Marseille, France
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

The pain thresholds of patients with schizophrenia often seem to differ from those of healthy subjects. In the present study we assessed the pain thresholds of ten patients with schizophrenia, and of ten controls, by measuring the leg flexion nociceptive reflex threshold: the stimulation threshold at which this reflex is triggered, is known to be correlated with the pain threshold. Our conclusion is that, in most cases, the increase in pain threshold is the result of ‘attitude’ and not of alterations in brain function.

Type
Short Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 164 , Issue 2 , February 1994 , pp. 253 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © 1994 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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