Speaker: Dane B. Cook, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Kinesiology
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Title: Psychophysiological Aspects of Muscle Pain and Exercise in Health and Disease
Chronic musculoskeletal pain affects nearly 20% of adults and is considered the most
frequent cause of disability throughout the world. At the extreme end of the chronic pain
continuum, fibromyalgia (FM) affects nearly 5% of the U.S. population (women 10:1)
and is quickly becoming a public health crisis. Exercise is one of the few efficacious
treatments for chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions, including FM. However, the
psychobiological mechanisms that underlie acute and chronic muscle pain, including how
exercise affects these mechanisms, are poorly understood. Moreover, a better
understanding of the causes and consequences of muscle pain could potentially contribute
to a host of topics relevant to physical activity including sport performance, adoption and
maintenance of physically active lifestyles, exercise-induced analgesia and chronic pain
maintenance. Thus, this seminar will focus on the psychobiological aspects of muscle
pain and exertion in both healthy individuals and those with chronic pain and fatigue.
Several studies will be described demonstrating the usefulness of exercise for
understanding both the physiological and perceptual aspects of muscle pain. Studies will
be presented characterizing pain intensity during exercise, investigating the effects of
pharmacological manipulations on muscle pain perception and determining the influence
of disease on pain and effort.