The effects of exercise upon the retardation in conditions of depression / by Shepherd Ivory Franz and G.V. Hamilton.

  • Shepherd Ivory Franz
Date:
[1905?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The effects of exercise upon the retardation in conditions of depression / by Shepherd Ivory Franz and G.V. Hamilton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    12/26 page 246
    upon the spinal cord helped to increase the irritability of some part of the nervous mechanism. Similar results are found for pain threshold. Usually the statement is made that the pain appreciation in this class of pa- tients is not diminished. This conclusion, however, has been drawn entirely from a few rough clinical tests such as pricking with a pin, although often it is admitted that these patients react very little to pin pricks. We have been unable to find any accu- rate determinations of the pain threshold in this class of patients to substantiate the general opinion. A reference to the table will show that the threshold at the beginning of the experiment was over 50 per cent higher than it was at the end of the series, and, moreover, it is particularly noticeable that the results of the first two weeks, July 10 to 21, are very much higher than the re- sults obtained from August 8 to 19 after the patient had had a period of two weeks without experiments. If the lowered threshold was due to practice we should expect that a part of the practice effect would have disappeared during the two weeks’ interval. Similar precautions were taken in these experiments as were done in the touch threshold series, but even when the instrument was kept at a point of considerable pressure, the subject did not respond, although sufficient time was given for a retarded answer. The experiments on the accuracy of movement show practi- cally nothing. The results are included here for their negative value, because they indicate that there is no disturbance of the “movement” sensations. There is no constant increase or de- This would indicate that at such times the threshold was even higher than we had determined since Griffing found that the pain threshold was a function of the time of stimulation as well as of the area and intensity. Op. cit., p. 80-83. Griffng found in 40 persons an average of 5100 grams for pain threshold when the area was 0.9 sq. cm. The results at the begin- ning of S’s series are, therefore, much higher than the normal average and those at the end of the series, while they approach this average, are somewhat higher. It should be further noted that Griffing found (Op. cit., p. 53, note) that in some pain measurements “a number of experiments had been made on the hand before, and it seemed to have become less sensitive by about 2 K. than when it was first tested.” This conclusion would indicate that any “practice effect” for pain threshold would be towards an increase rather than a decrease of the threshold.
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