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+--- Thread: Men and women process pain signals differently (/thread-11956.html)
Men and women process pain signals differently - C C - Mar 23, 2022
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/947138
INTRO: A new study published in the journal BRAIN shows for the first time that neurons in the spinal cord process pain signals differently in women compared to men. The finding could lead to better and more personalized treatments for chronic pain, which are desperately needed, especially in light of the opioid epidemic.
Although it has long been known that women and men experience pain differently, most pain research uses male rodents. The new study is unique because it used female and male spinal cord tissue from both rats and humans (generously donated by deceased individuals and their families).
By examining the spinal cord tissue in the laboratory, the researchers were able to show that a neuronal growth factor called BDNF plays a major role in amplifying spinal cord pain signalling in male humans and male rats, but not in female humans or female rats. When female rats had their ovaries removed, the difference disappeared, pointing to a hormonal connection... (MORE - missing details)
RE: Men and women process pain signals differently - Kornee - Mar 24, 2022
I dimly recall a radio talk-show interview decades ago where it was casually noted female perception of pain, for the same stimulus level, was well known to be markedly lower than in males.
It was iirc surmised that had to do with being able to handle child-birth.