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Feeling stiffness in the back: a protective perceptual inference in chronic back pain

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dc.contributor.authorStanton, T.R.
dc.contributor.authorMoseley, G.L.
dc.contributor.authorWong, A.Y.L.
dc.contributor.authorKawchuk, G.N.
dc.date.issued2017
dc.description.abstractDoes feeling back stiffness actually reflect having a stiff back? This research interrogates the long-held question of what informs our subjective experiences of bodily state. We propose a new hypothesis: feelings of back stiffness are a protective perceptual construct, rather than reflecting biomechanical properties of the back. This has far-reaching implications for treatment of pain/stiffness but also for our understanding of bodily feelings. Over three experiments, we challenge the prevailing view by showing that feeling stiff does not relate to objective spinal measures of stiffness and objective back stiffness does not differ between those who report feeling stiff and those who do not. Rather, those who report feeling stiff exhibit self- protective responses: they significantly overestimate force applied to their spine, yet are better at detecting changes in this force than those who do not report feeling stiff. This perceptual error can be manipulated: providing auditory input in synchrony to forces applied to the spine modulates prediction accuracy in both groups, without altering actual stiffness, demonstrating that feeling stiff is a multisensory perceptual inference consistent with protection. Together, this presents a compelling argument against the prevailing view that feeling stiff is an isomorphic marker of the biomechanical characteristics of the back.
dc.identifier.citationScientific Reports, 2017; 7(9684):1-12
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/s41598-017-09429-1
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322
dc.identifier.issn2045-2322
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/11541.2/128236
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherNature Publishing Group
dc.relation.fundingCanadian Institute for Health Research Postdoctoral Training Fellowship ID223354
dc.relation.fundingNHMRC 1054041
dc.relation.fundingNHMRC 1061279
dc.relation.fundingAlberta Innovates Health Solutions
dc.relation.fundingCanada Research Chairs program
dc.rightsCopyright 2017 The Author(s). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 InternationalLicense, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium orformat, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the CreativeCommons license, and indicate if changes were made. Te images or other third party material in thisarticle are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to thematerial. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permittedby statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from thecopyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
dc.source.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-09429-1
dc.subjectprotective perceptual inference
dc.subjectchronic back pain
dc.subjectback stiffness
dc.titleFeeling stiffness in the back: a protective perceptual inference in chronic back pain
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.publication-statusPublished
ror.fileinfo12148639400001831 13148639390001831 s41598-017-09429-1
ror.mmsid9916153111801831

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