A recent study published in Pain examined age-related changes in offset analgesia (a form of temporal pain inhibition) among older adults. The study consisted of “twenty-five younger adults and twenty older adults who completed six offset trials in which an experimental heat stimulus was presented to their forearms.” Participants rated pain intensity continuously through each trial, and older adult participants, “demonstrated reduced offset compared to younger adults.” The authors conclude that, “the reduced offset found in older adults may reflect an age-related decline in endogenous inhibitory systems.”
