Impact of Depression on Experimental Pain Perception: A Systematic Review of the Literature with Meta-Analysis

Depressed subjects are less likely to perceive a sensory stimulus as being painful compared with nondepressed controls. The influence of depression on attention to the pain stimulus may account for this effect. More studies are required to enable us to determine the impact of depression on absolute sensory perception threshold and pain tolerance. Furthermore, more studies would enable the examination of depression on the perception of different modalities.