Scientists are interested in whether mice’s facial expressions can be used as an index of pain. To test the idea, they compared the Mouse Grimace Scale (pictured below) with more traditional behavioral measures in examining mice’s levels of discomfort after having surgery on their manhood—er, mousehood. “The Assessment of Post-Vasectomy Pain in Mice Using Behaviour and […]
Tag: Pain
Swearing Can Repel Emotional Support
A new paper is the first (by other authors) to cite the 2010 Ig Nobel Peace Prize-winning paper by Richard Stephens, et al., about how swearing relieves physical pain. The new study is: “Naturalistically observed swearing, emotional support, and depressive symptoms in women coping with illness,” Megan L Robbins, Elizabeth S Focella, Shelley Kasle, Ana […]
The Clown, The Kids, the Botulinum Toxin
Experiments in Denmark explore what happens when you combine a clown, several children, and injections of botulinum toxin. Details are in the study: “Effect of a clown’s presence at botulinum toxin injections in children: a randomized, prospective study,” Lars Kjaersgaard Hansen, Maria Kibaek, Torben Martinussen [pictured here], Lene Kragh, Mogens Hej, Journal of Pain Research, vol. […]