Trial reportPloS one2012
Superior analgesic effect of an active distraction versus pleasant unfamiliar sounds and music: the influence of emotion and cognitive style.
Trial report in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Acoustic stimulation for relieving pain during venipuncture: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Sensorimotor synchronization to music reduces pain.PloS one · 2023Trial
- The analgesic effect of music on cold pressor pain responses: The influence of anxiety and attitude toward pain.PloS one · 2018Trial
- Trial
- The Hypoalgesic Effects of Pleasant Music Are Not Fully Explained by Distraction.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Article
- A scoping review of music-based pain treatment mechanism research.Pain reports · 2026Review
- Perioperative auditory stimulation in the recovery of patients receiving surgical care: a narrative review.Perioperative medicine (London, England) · 2026Review
- Nature exposure reduces self-reported pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Nature. Mental health · 2026Article
- A between-subjects investigation of whether distraction is the main mechanism behind music-induced analgesia.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Adolescents' use of music for pain management.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2025Article
- Insights into pain distraction and the impact of pain catastrophizing on pain perception during different types of distraction tasks.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Digital Therapeutics (DTx) Expand Multimodal Treatment Options for Chronic Low Back Pain: The Nexus of Precision Medicine, Patient Education, and Public Health.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Feeling the music: The feel and sound of songs attenuate pain.British journal of pain · 2022Article
- Sound induces analgesia through corticothalamic circuits.Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2022Article
- Autonomic nervous system markers of music-elicited analgesia in people with fibromyalgia: A double-blind randomized pilot study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Music-Induced Analgesia in Healthy Participants Is Associated With Expected Pain Levels but Not Opioid or Dopamine-Dependent Mechanisms.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Neural Correlates of Music Listening: Does the Music Matter?Brain sciences · 2021Review
- Singing as a health-promoting activity in elderly care: a qualitative, longitudinal study in Norway.Journal of research in nursing : JRN · 2020Article
- Efficacy, Treatment Characteristics, and Biopsychological Mechanisms of Music-Listening Interventions in Reducing Pain (MINTREP): Study Protocol of a Three-Armed Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- The Feasibility and Effectiveness of a New Practical Multidisciplinary Treatment for Low-Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Listening to music has been found to reduce acute and chronic pain. The underlying mechanisms are poorly understood; however, emotion and cognitive mechanisms have been suggested to influence the analgesic effect of music. In this study we investigated the influence of familiarity, emotional and cognitive features, and cognitive style on music-induced analgesia. Forty-eight healthy participants were divided into three groups (empathizers, systemizers and balanced) and received acute pain induced by heat while listening to different sounds. Participants listened to unfamiliar Mozart music rated with high valence and low arousal, unfamiliar environmental sounds with similar valence and arousal as the music, an active distraction task (mental arithmetic) and a control, and rated the pain. Data showed that the active distraction led to significantly less pain than did the music or sounds. Both unfamiliar music and sounds reduced pain significantly when compared to the control condition; however, music was no more effective than sound to reduce pain. Furthermore, we found correlations between pain and emotion ratings. Finally, systemizers reported less pain during the mental arithmetic compared with the other two groups. These findings suggest that familiarity may be key in the influence of the cognitive and emotional mechanisms of music-induced analgesia, and that cognitive styles may influence pain perception.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.