Bar-Ilan Study Finds Attention Cuts Inflammation 1.5-Fold in 57 Volunteers
Updated
Updated · ETV Bharat · Aug 17
Bar-Ilan Study Finds Attention Cuts Inflammation 1.5-Fold in 57 Volunteers
3 articles · Updated · ETV Bharat · Aug 17
Summary
Nearly 90% of 57 healthy volunteers showed a smaller skin inflammatory response when they focused on the affected area rather than distracting themselves, in three preregistered experiments published in Nature Human Behaviour.
A 20-minute monitoring period found inflammation was about 1.5 times smaller under internal attention and returned toward baseline faster, alongside changes in heart-rate variability, skin temperature and autonomic activity.
Local anaesthetic tests suggested two mechanisms: sensory signals from the inflamed tissue and a top-down brain pathway that still dampened inflammation even after signals from the skin were reduced.
Bar-Ilan University researchers said the findings point to attention affecting physiology, not just the feeling of pain or itch, while stopping short of suggesting attention alone can replace medical treatment for disease.