New research published in the journal JNeurosci has found that nostalgia can reduce pain perception. Chinese researchers asked study participants to rate their pain from heat stimulation while they looked at pictures of old cartoons, classic childhood games or candy, and compared their responses with other participants who viewed modern images. An MRI machine was also used to scan 34 of the participants.
The result: Participants who looked at images that made them feel nostalgic felt less pain. So next time your back starts to hurt, break out an old photo album. The fond memories really might help.
