Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Pain Modulation Mechanisms in ASD Adults

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We tested endogenous pain modulation mechanisms in adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Nineteen ASD adults without intellectual disabilities were included, matched with 19 healthy volunteers on the basis of sex and chronological age. An experimental pain model was used to measure excitatory and inhibitory pain mechanisms in a single session. Statistical analyses indicated that endogenous pain modulation mechanisms in ASD group did not differ significantly from those of healthy adults. The pain scores were very disparate in ASD group with a greater range of extreme scores than in control group. Unlike schizophrenic patients, there was no systematic dysfunction of endogenous excitatory pain modulation mechanisms, but the high variability requires to be wise to interpret the results and formulate conclusion

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5®). Philadelphia: American Psychiatric Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arendt-Nielsen, L., Brennum, J., Sindrup, S., & Bak, P. (1994). Electrophysiological and psychophysical quantification of temporal summation in the human nociceptive system. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology,68(3), 266–273.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Autié, A., Montreuil, M., Moulier, V., Braha, S., Wojakiewicz, A., & Januel, D. (2009). Pain and schizophrenia: Myth and reality. Encephale,35(4), 297–303.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, K. E., Barman, S. M., Boitano, S., & Brooks, H. (2009). Ganong’s review of medical physiology. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baum, S. H., Stevenson, R. A., & Wallace, M. T. (2015). Behavioral, perceptual, and neural alterations in sensory and multisensory function in autism spectrum disorder. Progress in Neurobiology,134, 140–160.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1998). Inventaire de Dépression de Beck. Manuel (2nd ed.). Toronto: Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonnot, O., Anderson, G. M., Cohen, D., Willer, J. C., & Tordjman, S. (2009). Are patients with schizophrenia insensitive to pain? A reconsideration of the question. Clinical Journal of Pain,25(3), 244–252.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, C., & Dunn, W. (2002). The adult sensory profile. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cascio, C., McGlone, F., Folger, S., et al. (2008). Tactile perception in adults with autism: A multidimensional psychophysical study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,38, 127–137.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, C., Hung, A. Y., Fan, Y. T., Tan, S., Hong, H., & Cheng, Y. (2017). Linkage between pain sensitivity and empathic response in adolescents with autism spectrum conditions and conduct disorder symptoms. Autism Research,10(2), 267–275.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Craig, K. D. (2009). The social communication model of pain. Canadian Psychology,50(1), 22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickens, C., McGowan, L., & Dale, S. (2003). Impact of depression on experimental pain perception: A systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis. Psychosomatic Medicine,65(3), 369–375.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, A., Michelon, C., Rattaz, C., Zabalia, M., & Baghdadli, A. (2017). Daily living pain assessment in children with autism: Exploratory study. Research in Developmental Disabilities,62, 238–246.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dubois, A., Rattaz, C., Pry, R., & Baghdadli, A. (2010). Autism and pain: A literature review. Pain Research & Management,15(4), 245–253.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duerden, E. G., Taylor, M. J., Lee, M., McGrath, P. A., Davis, K. D., & Roberts, S. W. (2015). Decreased sensitivity to thermal stimuli in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder: Relation to symptomatology and cognitive ability. The Journal of Pain,16(5), 463–471.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Failla, M., Davis, S., Gerdes, M., Williams, Z., Moore, D., & Cascio, C. (2019). (262) Increased heat pain sensitivity and pain-related anxiety in individuals with autism. The Journal of Pain,20(4), S40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fründt, O., Grashorn, W., Schöttle, D., Peiker, I., David, N., Engel, A. K., … & Bingel, U. (2017). Quantitative sensory testing in adults with autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 47(4), 1183–1192.

  • Furukawa, T. A. (2010). Assessment of mood: Guides for clinicians. Journal of Psychosomatic Research,68(6), 581–589.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert-MacLeod, C. A., Craig, K. D., Rocha, E. M., & Mathias, M. D. (2000). Everyday pain responses in children with and without developmental delays. Journal of Pediatric Psychology,25(5), 301–308.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gillberg, C., & Coleman, M. (1996). Autism and medical disorders: A review of the literature. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology,38(3), 191–202.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goffaux, P., Redmond, W. J., Rainville, P., & Marchand, S. (2007). Descending analgesia-when the spine echoes what the brain expects. Pain,130(1–2), 137–143.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Granot, M., Granovsky, Y., Sprecher, E., Nir, R. R., & Yarnitsky, D. (2006). Contact heat-evoked temporal summation: Tonic versus repetitive-phasic stimulation. Pain,122(3), 295–305.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Granot, M., Sprecher, E., & Yarnitsky, D. (2003). Psychophysics of phasic and tonic heat pain stimuli by quantitative sensory testing in healthy subjects. European Journal of Pain,7(2), 139–143.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hadjistavropoulos, T., & Craig, K. D. (2002). A theoretical framework for understanding self-report and observational measures of pain: A communications model. Behaviour Research and Therapy,40(5), 551–570.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Joshi, G., Wozniak, J., Petty, C., Martelon, M. K., Fried, R., Bolfek, A., … & Caruso, J. (2013). Psychiatric comorbidity and functioning in a clinically referred population of adults with autism spectrum disorders: A comparative study. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 43(6), 1314–1325.

  • Julien, N., Goffaux, P., Arsenault, P., & Marchand, S. (2005). Widespread pain in fibromyalgia is related to a deficit of endogenous pain inhibition. Pain,114(1), 295–302.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, D. L., Kemp, H. I., Ridout, D., Yarnitsky, D., & Rice, A. S. (2016). Reliability of conditioned pain modulation: A systematic review. Pain,157(11), 2410.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Le Bars, D., Dickenson, A. H., & Besson, J. M. (1979). Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC). I. Effects on dorsal horn convergent neurones in the rat. Pain,6(3), 283–304.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Le Bars, D., Villanueva, L., Bouhassira, D., & Willer, J. C. (1992). Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) in animals and in man. Patologicheskaia fiziologiia i eksperimental’naia terapiia,4, 55–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lee, L. C., Harrington, R. A., Chang, J. J., & Connors, S. L. (2008). Increased risk of injury in children with developmental disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities,29(3), 247–255.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lévesque, M., Potvin, S., Marchand, S., Stip, E., Grignon, S., Pierre, L., … & Goffaux, P. (2012). Pain perception in schizophrenia: Evidence of a specific pain response profile. Pain Medicine, 13(12), 1571–1579.

  • Lord, C., Rutter, M., & Le Couteur, A. (1994). Autism diagnostic interview-revised: A revised version of a diagnostic interview for caregivers of individuals with possible pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,24(5), 659–685.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Magerl, W., & Klein, T. (2006). Experimental human models of neuropathic pain. Handbook of clinical neurology (Vol. 81, pp. 503–516). New York: Elsevier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marchand, S., & Arsenault, P. (2002). Spatial summation for pain perception: Interaction of inhibitory and excitatory mechanisms. Pain,95(3), 201–206.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Messmer, R. L., Nader, R., & Craig, K. D. (2008). Brief report: Judging pain intensity in children with autism undergoing venepuncture: The influence of facial activity. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,38(7), 1391–1394.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Militerni, R., Bravaccio, C., Falco, C., Puglisi-Allegra, S., Pascucci, T., & Fico, C. (2000). Pain reactivity in children with autistic disorder. The Journal of Headache and Pain,1(1), 53–56.

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Moore, D. J. (2015). Acute pain experience in individuals with autism spectrum disorders: A review. Autism,19(4), 387–399.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Morin, M., Marchand, S., Couturier, L., Nadeau, S., & Lafrenaye, S. (2014). Long-term persistency of abnormal heart rate variability following long NICU stay and surgery at birth. Pain Research and Treatment,2014, 121289.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nader, R., Oberlander, T. F., Chambers, C. T., & Craig, K. D. (2004). Expression of pain in children with autism. The Clinical Journal of Pain,20(2), 88–97.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Potvin, S., Paul-Savoie, E., Morin, M., Bourgault, P., & Marchand, S. (2012). Temporal summation of pain is not amplified in a large proportion of fibromyalgia patients. Pain Research and Treatment,2012, 938595.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Potvin, S., Stip, E., Tempier, A., Pampoulova, T., Bentaleb, L. A., Lalonde, P., et al. (2008). Pain perception in schizophrenia: No changes in diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) nut a lack of pain sensitization. Journal of Psychiatric Research,42(12), 1010–1016.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pud, D., Granovsky, Y., & Yarnitsky, D. (2009). The methodology of experimentally induced diffuse noxious inhibitory control (DNIC)-like effect in humans. Pain,144(1), 16–19.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rainville, P., Feine, J. S., Bushnell, M. C., & Duncan, G. H. (1992). A psychophysical comparison of sensory and affective responses to four modalities of experimental pain. Somatosensory and Motor Research,9(4), 265–277.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rattaz, C., Dubois, A., & Baghdadli, A. (2016). How do people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) experience pain? An introduction to pain and its relation to nervous system disorders (pp. 295–315). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rattaz, C., Dubois, A., Michelon, C., Viellard, M., Poinso, F., & Baghdadli, A. (2013). How do children with autism spectrum disorders express pain? A comparison with developmentally delayed and typically developing children. Pain,154(10), 2007–2013.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Riquelme, I., Hatem, S. M., & Montoya, P. (2016). Abnormal pressure pain, touch sensitivity, proprioception, and manual dexterity in children with autism spectrum disorders. Neural Plasticity. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/1723401.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Serrao, M., Rossi, P., Sandrini, G., Parisi, L., Amabile, G. A., Nappi, G., et al. (2004). Effects of diffuse noxious inhibitory controls on temporal summation of the RIII reflex in humans. Pain,112(3), 353–360.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Staud, R., Robinson, M. E., Vierck, C. J., Jr., & Price, D. D. (2003). Diffuse noxious inhibitory controls (DNIC) attenuate temporal summation of second pain in normal males but not in normal females or fibromyalgia patients. Pain,101(1–2), 167–174.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stubbs, B., Thompson, T., Acaster, S., Vancampfort, D., Gaughran, F., & Correll, C. U. (2015). Decreased pain sensitivity among people with schizophrenia: A meta-analysis of experimental pain induction studies. Pain,156(11), 2121–2131.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, M. J., Thorn, B., Haythornthwaite, J. A., Keefe, F., Martin, M., Bradley, L. A., et al. (2001). Theoretical perspectives on the relation between catastrophizing and pain. The Clinical Journal of Pain,17(1), 52–64.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, T., Correll, C. U., Gallop, K., Vancampfort, D., & Stubbs, B. (2016). Is pain perception altered in people with depression? A systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental pain research. The Journal of Pain,17(12), 1257–1272.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tordjman, S., Anderson, G. M., Botbol, M., Brailly-Tabard, S., Perez-Diaz, F., Graignic, R., … & Trabado, S. (2009). Pain reactivity and plasma β-endorphin in children and adolescents with autistic disorder. PLoS ONE, 4(8), e5289.

  • Tordjman, S., Antoine, C., Cohen, D. J., Gauvain-Piquard, A., Carlier, M., Roubertoux, P., et al. (1999). Study of the relationships between self-injurious behavior and pain reactivity in infantile autism. L’encéphale,25(2), 122–134.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tousignant-Laflamme, Y., Pagé, S., Goffaux, P., & Marchand, S. (2008). An experimental model to measure excitatory and inhibitory pain mechanisms in humans. Brain Research,1230, 73–79.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vaughan, S., McGlone, F., Poole, H., & Moore, D. J. (2019). A quantitative sensory testing approach to pain in autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders,4, e5289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (2008). Wechsler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-IV) (4th ed., Vol. 22, p. 498). San Antonio, TX: NCS Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willer, J. C., De Broucker, T., & Le Bars, D. (1989). Encoding of nociceptive thermal stimuli by diffuse noxious inhibitory controls in humans. Journal of Neurophysiology,62(5), 1028–1038.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • World Health Organization. (1993). The ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioural disorders: Diagnostic criteria for research (Vol. 2). Geneva: World Health Organization.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yarnitsky, D. (2010). Conditioned pain modulation (the diffuse noxious inhibitory control-like effect): Its relevance for acute and chronic pain states. Current Opinion in Anesthesiology,23(5), 611–615.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by a Grant from Fondation Apicil and by a Grant from Fondation de France. The authors wish to sincerely thank the adults who accepted to participate in this study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. LP3C - EA1285, Department of Psychology, University of Western Brittany, Brest, France

    A. Dubois

  2. LIEN – EA4685, University of Western Brittany, Brest, France

    A. Dubois, M. Boudjarane, A. Le Fur-Bonnabesse, M. Walter & C. Bodéré

  3. INSERM CIC 1412, Brest University Hospital, Brest, France

    A. Dion

  4. Neurological Functional Explorations, Brest University Hospital, Brest, France

    G. L’heveder

  5. Pain Center, Brest University Hospital, Brest, France

    B. Quinio & C. Bodéré

  6. Psychiatry Center, Brest University Hospital, Brest, France

    M. Walter

  7. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Canada

    S. Marchand

  8. UFR LSH Victor Segalen, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, 29200, Brest, France

    A. Dubois

Authors
  1. A. Dubois
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Boudjarane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. A. Le Fur-Bonnabesse
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. A. Dion
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. G. L’heveder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. B. Quinio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. M. Walter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. S. Marchand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. C. Bodéré
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A. Dubois.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author declares that there are no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dubois, A., Boudjarane, M., Le Fur-Bonnabesse, A. et al. Pain Modulation Mechanisms in ASD Adults. J Autism Dev Disord 50, 2931–2940 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04361-x

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-019-04361-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation