Rubber hand illusion increases pain caused by electric stimuli
Published in The Journal of Pain, 2017
Recommended citation: Siedlecka, M., Spychała, N., Łukowska, M., Wiercioch, K., & Wierzchoń, M. (2018). Rubber hand illusion increases pain caused by electric stimuli. The Journal of Pain, 19(1), 35-45. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1526590017306855
In this study, we investigated the relationship between pain and the rubber hand illusion (RHI) by inducing the RHI and stimulating the participants hands with electrical stimuli in a double-blind procedure. We found that electrical stimuli were experienced as more painful on the hand under the illusion, while being localized between the real and the rubber hand. This might suggest that uncertainty about the location of pain increases its intenstiy.