[3] The study asked participants to submerge their hands in ice water (the cold pressor pain procedure) and told members of the experimental group (as opposed to the control group) that they would be compensated financially for keeping their hand submerged.
"[3] A similar study published in the same books focused on the effects of having individuals perform the ice water procedure if they are accompanied by another participant.
These data suggest that the presence of an individual who provides passive or active support reduces experimental pain.
The lowest pain tolerance was seen in participants that were currently experiencing a major depressive episode.
[8] Lower pain tolerance associated with depressive symptoms can increase thoughts of suicide.
Their pain tolerance can then be measured based on how long they are able to keep their hand submerged before taking it out.
In those rats, the area of their brain where an incision was made as an infant remains hypersensitive to pain thereafter.
Repeated exposure bombards pain synapses with repetitive input, increasing their responsiveness to later stimuli, through a process similar to learning.