Peinigend Words Really Do Cause Pain

(PHOTO:Magda Wieclawska)

German neurologists have just shown that reading words associated with painful experiences sets off a firestorm of activity in areas of the brain, like the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), that are responsible for processing physical pain.

Neutral, negative but not pain associated, and positive words were used as controls in the study, and the table showing both the German word list and the English translations is the real reason I’m posting this. It’s a fascinating cross-cultural study in itself. How could the word Krampfartig (English: crampy) not make your brain hurt? Peinigend (English: tantalising) makes me ponder; it’s true the word has tormenting origins, but it’s not quite right for English speakers. And on the positive side, I’m not sure what Hocherotisch (English: highly erotic) would do to my DLPFC, but I would sure like to find out.

You may peruse the table above, as well as the paper describing these findings, without fear—the team reported that no actual physical sensations of pain were associated with reading the painful words.