Crossing arms may lower pain
Crossing arms across the middle of the body may help reduce the intensity of pain in hands through conflicting brain perception.
University College London (UCL) scientists found that crossing arms during a painful condition may reduce the unpleasant sensation.
Crossing arms may distract the brain from the location of experienced pain, affecting the perception of pain signals sent from the hands, researchers wrote in Pain.
"In everyday life you mostly use your left hand to touch things on the left side of the world, and your right hand for the right side of the world," said senior author Giandomenico Iannetti.
"This means that the areas of the brain that contain the map of the right body and the map of right external space are usually activated together, leading to highly effective processing of sensory stimuli," he added.
"When you cross your arms these maps are not activated together anymore, leading to less effective brain processing of sensory stimuli, including pain, being perceived as weaker," Iannetti suggested. "Perhaps when we get hurt, we should not only "rub it better" but also cross our arms."
Scientists believe their new findings may lead to the development of new methods in managing and relieving pain by manipulating and mixing up brain perception.
Source: presstv.ir
