When people expect pain relief and have prior experience with effective treatments, their brains appear to activate two opposite nerve pathways - one that actually makes the spinal nerves more sensitive, and another that helps them feel less pain consciously.

The study tested placebo analgesia by combining expectations and conditioning. It found that this combination triggers two opposite brain processes: one that makes the spinal cord more sensitive to pain signals, and another that reduces the conscious feeling of pain. This matches exactly what the claim describes.