TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2015//
TI  - When does pleasure start after the end of pain? The time course of relief
JO  - Journal of comparative neurology
A1  - Andreatta, Marta
A1  - Mühlberger, Andreas
A1  - Pauli, Paul
SP  - 1653
EP  - 1667
VL  - 524
IS  - 8
N2  - Painful events are suggested to elicit two opponent responses. A negatively valenced and a positively valenced process triggered by their onset and termination, respectively. Consequently, stimuli (conditioned stimulus, CS) associated with pain onset (unconditioned stimulus, US) provoke defensive responses like startle potentiation, while stimuli associated with pain termination elicit appetitive responses like startle attenuation. Here, we summarize four studies elucidating the time course of the relief following the termination of a painful US. In these studies, the timing of a relief-associated stimulus (reliefCS) presented after a painful US was varied from immediately (Study1), 3s (Study4), or 6s (Study2 and 3) after the US. Responses to these relief CSs were compared, also with responses to a stimulus presented before the US (fearCS), and a third stimulus (safetyCS) that was never associated with the US. The synopsis of these studies reveals that the timing of the reliefCS is crucial to turn a defensive response into an appetitive response. Namely, the reliefCS immediately following the US induced startle potentiation and negative valence (Study1); 3s later, the startle response was slightly less potentiated and the ratings a little less negative (Study4); finally the reliefCS presented 6s after the US caused startle attenuation (Study2 and 3) and positively valenced ratings (Study3). In sum, the observed time course of relief closely follows the predictions of opponent process theory. This means that relief may be a reinforcer that elicits conditioned appetitive behavior, but its reinforcing properties strongly depend on its temporal relation to the aversive event. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0021-9967
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cne.23872
ID  - ref1
ER  -