Did marathon runners remember their pain as less intense six months later?

Details

Memory, including memory of pain, is a reconstructive process. The study examined how time and affective states relate to memory of pain induced by running a marathon. The researchers hypothesized that participants would underestimate their marathon pain when recalling it and that the underestimate would be greater among those experiencing higher positive affect.

In a longitudinal design, pain intensity was assessed at the finish line and six months after the marathon. The sample size was based on a power analysis, and 108 marathon runners rated their pain intensity and positive and negative affect at the finish line. Of these, 58 recalled their marathon pain six months later. The researchers used linear models, including computer-based data-mining algorithms.

Experienced pain was higher than recalled pain (t(55) = 3.412, p < 0.01, d = 0.45), supporting the first hypothesis. Pain memory faded similarly across participants, which did not directly support the second hypothesis. Further exploratory analysis suggested that both negative and positive affective states were related to pain memory; positive affect appeared inversely related to recalled pain (β = -0.289, p = 0.039).

The authors concluded that time significantly affects recall and that emotions may also influence pain memory. They described this as the first study to preliminarily show an effect of positive affective states on memory of pain induced by physical exercise.