ArticleEuropean journal of pain (London, England)2025
Comparison of Experimental Pain Modulation by Hypnosis, Virtual Reality and Virtual Reality Hypnosis in Healthy Individuals.
Article in European journal of pain (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Magnetoencephalography monitoring of hypnosis-induced modulation of event-related brain responses by hypnosis.Neuroscience of consciousness · 2026Article
- Comparison of Experimental Pain Modulation by Hypnosis, Virtual Reality and Virtual Reality Hypnosis in Healthy Individuals.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHypnosis (H) and virtual reality (VR) are effective behavioural interventions to influence acute pain perception. Hypnotic suggestions have also been shown to modulate the nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR), suggesting the activation of descending modulatory mechanisms affecting spinal nociceptive activity. The combination of these techniques, virtual reality hypnosis (VRH), may reduce pain, but research on their comparative efficacy and mechanisms requires further experimental investigation. This study compared the effects of relaxation hypnosis, VR and VRH on pain perception and nociceptive physiological responses.
methodsTwenty-four healthy participants were tested at baseline followed by three experimental conditions (relaxation hypnosis, VR, VRH) in a counterbalanced order. Pain intensity and unpleasantness, as well as NFR amplitude evoked by noxious transcutaneous electrical stimulation, were measured. Bayesian statistics assessed evidence for analgesic effects on each variable.
resultsThe strength of evidence in favour of our hypotheses was categorised as follow: BF = 1-3: anecdotal evidence; BF = 3-10: moderate evidence and BF > 10: strong evidence. For NFR values, Bayesian paired-sample T-tests provided anecdotal support for the efficacy of relaxation hypnosis (BF + 0 = 2.11) and stronger evidence for VR (BF + 0 = 10.94) and VRH (BF + 0 = 14). For pain intensity, moderate evidence supported reductions with relaxation hypnosis (BF + 0 = 9.18), while strong evidence was found for VR (BF + 0 = 27.99) and low to moderate for VRH (BF + 0 = 5.88). Similarly, unpleasantness showed anecdotal reduction with hypnosis (BF + 0 = 1.9), and moderate evidence supported VR (BF + 0 = 4.86) and VRH (BF + 0 = 7.18). Across all measures, no significant differences were found between hypnosis, VR and VRH.
conclusionThese findings suggest that these techniques did not differentially affect NFR, pain intensity, or unpleasantness. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: The strength of this fundamental study is to directly compare hypnosis, VR, and VRH on both pain perception and physiological responses. It shows that VR alone is effective, while adding hypnosis does not always lead to better results and the combination could even create interference in some cases. This article helps to nuance the existing literature and common assumptions about the tool's use. These findings help clarify how VRH works and to propose guidance for clinical practices and further VRH development.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.