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Research has found that musicians feel pain differently than other people

Research has found that musicians feel pain differently than other people

27 September 2025, 14:46

Research has found that musicians feel pain differently than other people — photo: ScienceAlert

Researchers have noticed that musicians who perform repetitive movements for years and often experience discomfort perceive pain differently.

This is written by thepublic.info citing a scientific publication ScienceAlert.

«If musical training changes the brain in many ways, perhaps it also affects how we perceive pain», — explained the author of the study Anna M. Samorano from the University of Orhus (Denmark).

Participants — both musicians and people without musical education — were injected with a special protein into the muscles of their arms. It usually keeps nerves healthy but temporarily causes pain during movements. This way, scientists simulated safe muscle pain for several days.

Then, brain activity was measured using transcranial magnetic stimulation. This method allows creating a map that shows how the brain controls arm movements.

Among musicians, the hand maps in the brain were clearer even before the pain began. The more hours they dedicated to training, the more accurate this map was. After the injection, musicians reported less discomfort, and their maps did not change. Non-musicians, however, already showed a reduction in the "hand map" in the brain after just two days.

«Musical training seems to create a protective barrier against the usual negative effects of pain — both in sensations and in the functioning of motor areas of the brain», — note the authors of the study.

«This was a small study involving only 40 people, but the results clearly showed that the brains of musicians reacted differently to pain. It seems that training created a kind of buffer against the usual negative consequences, both in the intensity of pain they felt and in the reaction of their brain's motor areas,» — writes Anna M. Samorano and adds:

- Of course, this does not mean that music is a cure for chronic pain. But it shows us that prolonged training and experience can shape how we perceive pain. This is exciting because it may help us understand why some people are more resilient to pain than others, and how we can develop new treatment methods for those living with pain».

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