Peters, Jan H.Jan H.Peters0000-0001-9184-7108Lautenbacher, StefanStefanLautenbacherHeesen, MichaelMichaelHeesenScheel, JenniferJenniferScheelKunz, MiriamMiriamKunz2019-09-192017-08-1720170149-7634https://fis.uni-bamberg.de/handle/uniba/42360Demographic changes, with substantial increase in life expectancy, ask for solid knowledge about how pain perception might be altered by aging. Although psychophysical studies on age-related changes in pain perception have been conducted over more than 70 years, meta-analyses are still missing. The present meta-analysis aimed to quantify evidence on age-related changes in pain perception, indexed by pain thresholds and pain tolerance thresholds in young and older healthy adults. After searching PubMed, Google Scholar and PsycINFO using state-of-art screening (PRISMA-criteria), 31 studies on pain threshold and 9 studies assessing pain tolerance threshold were identified. Pain threshold increases with age, which is indicated by a large effect size. This age-related change increases the wider the age-gap between groups; and is especially prominent when heat is used and when stimuli are applied to the head. In contrast, pain tolerance thresholds did not show substantial age-related changes. Thus, after many years of investigating age-related changes in pain perception, we only have firm evidence that aging reduces pain sensitivity for lower pain intensities.engarticle10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.01.039