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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Mar 29.
Published in final edited form as: Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2017 Feb 16;3:17002. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2017.2

Figure 3. Schematic representation of the conditioned pain modulation.

Figure 3

The conditioned pain modulation (CPM) paradigm is used in the research setting to assess the change of perceived pain by a test stimulus under the influence of a conditioning stimulus203. A test stimulus can be a thermal contact stimulation (1), mechanical pressure (2), an electrical stimulus (3) — for each, either pain threshold or suprathreshold magnitude estimation can be used — or nociceptive withdrawal reflex (4). A typical conditioning stimulus consists of thermal contact stimulation (5), or immersion in a cold (6) or hot (7) water bath. Other modalities can be used as well. During a CPM assessment, a test stimulus is given first, then the conditioning stimulus is given, and the test is repeated during or immediately after the conditioning.