ACADEMICS have discovered by chance that an optical illusion can significantly reduce arthritic pain in the hand.
Using a computer to manipulate a real-time video shot of a hand, the brain is tricked into believing that the painful part of the hand is being stretched or shrunk.
The discovery was made during a community open day at the University of Nottingham last April, when visitors were invited to experience some of the body distortion illusions used in everyday research.
Dr Catherine Preston, who is now at Nottingham Trent University and collaborated on the study, said: "During the course of the day the grandmother of one of the children wanted to have a go, but warned us to be gentle because of the arthritis in her fingers.
"We were giving her a practical demonstration of illusory finger stretching when she announced: 'My finger doesn't hurt any more,' and asked whether she could take the machine home with her.
"We were just stunned — I don't know who was more surprised, her or us."
The team immediately contacted a local osteoarthritis support group and asked them to take part in a series of tests to confirm the effectiveness of the technique.
The researchers were able to halve the pain felt by 85 per cent of sufferers they tested.
In some cases the pain was temporarily eradicated.
Dr Roger Newport, who is leading the research in the School of Psychology, stressed that the work was at a very early stage.
More studies are needed to further assess the effectiveness of the technology, and the researchers have secured a �23,000 grant from the Dunhill Medical Trust.
 |  |
Royal Bank of Scotland Madeleine McCann European football Wigan Athletic Buenos Aires Moscow
No comments:
Post a Comment