Modulation of pain processing with physical exercise in athletes

Purpose: Physical exercise is known to promote various psycho-physiological effects, among these mood elevation, stress reduction, anxiolysis, and modulation of pain perception with reduced sensitivity to pain stimuli. How the modulation of pain perception in athletes is mediated via the distributed human pain matrix is not yet understood. Assuming underlying central opioidergic mechanisms, we expected physical exercise (two hours outdoor RUN) to affect the affective dimensions of pain processing on the behavioral and the systemic (brain activation) level, as compared to a control condition (two hours outdoor WA…