Attention to pain! A neurocognitive perspective on attentional modulation of pain in neuroimaging studies

Torta, Diana; Legrain, Valéry; Mouraux, André; Valentini, Elia

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.01.010

Cited by 86 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 128 publications

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“…Attention, affect and expectancies are also an inherent part of being human and have a strong impact on our daily functioning. For example, attention entails various processes that together regulate the selection and prioritization of incoming information . Psychological factors such as attentional focus, affect and expectancies are also shaped by our previous learning history, including past experiences of itch and scratching, which in turn can trigger future experiences, such as a worsening of itch .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although research into attentional processing of itch is relatively young, attention theories for pain have evolved over the years, and these may also apply to itch. Pain is also a somatosensory sensation whose primary function is to alarm us to potential harm to bodily integrity.…”

Section: Attention and Itchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the one hand, stimuli are also more likely to capture attention when they are considered relevant to the current task (attentional set hypothesis) . On the other hand, attention is less likely to be interrupted by task‐irrelevant input when one is highly engaged in current task performance (ie, all attentional resources have been recruited; attentional load hypothesis) and one is highly dedicated to accomplishing set goals . In line, itch, particularly when novel and intense, may initiate an involuntary shift in attention from the current focus towards the itch location.…”

Section: Attention and Itchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

What is new in the psychology of chronic itch?

Evers

Peerdeman

Laarhoven

2019

Experimental Dermatology

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Itch is often regarded as unpleasant or bothersome and is accompanied by symptoms of distress and impairments in daily life. The biopsychosocial model of chronic itch describes how psychological factors can contribute to the improvement or exacerbation of chronic itch and related scratching behaviour. Recent research underlines the important role of cognitive‐affective information processing, such as attention, affect and expectancies. This may not only play a role for acute itch states, but may particularly apply to the process of itch chronification, for example, due to the vicious cycle in which these factors shape the experience of itch. The present paper focuses on new insights into the relation between itch and the cognitive‐affective factors of attention, affect and expectancies. These factors are thought to play a possible aggravating role in itch in the long term and have received increasing attention in the recent empirical literature on maintaining and exacerbating factors for chronic physical symptoms. Possible psychophysiological and neurobiological pathways regarding these factors are discussed, as well as possible intervention methods.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Attention and Itchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Attention and Itchmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

What is new in the psychology of chronic itch?

Evers

Peerdeman

Laarhoven

2019

Experimental Dermatology

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“…Other studies have supported this proposal, but they also found activity modulation in the somatosensory cortex (Jackson et al, 2006;Bufalari et al, 2007;Ogino et al, 2007;Lamm et al, 2011). Additionally, a more recent cognitive model proposes that pain is represented by a multisensory processing system with the goal to protect the body's integrity within a given environment (Legrain & Torta, 2015;Torta et al, 2017). As such, pain perception results not only from processing nociceptive stimuli in a bottom-up-fashion but is additionally modulated by top-down cognitive processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Observing back pain provoking lifting actions modulates corticomotor excitability of the observer's primary motor cortex

2017

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Observing another person experiencing exogenously inflicted pain (e.g. by a sharp object penetrating a finger) modulates the excitability of the observer' primary motor cortex (M1). By contrast, far less is known about the response to endogenously evoked pain such as sudden back pain provoked by lifting a heavy object. Here, participants (n=26) observed the lifting of a heavy object. During this action the actor (1) flexed and extended the legs (LEG), (2) flexed and extended the back (BACK) or (3) flexed and extended the back which caused visible pain (BACKPAIN). Corticomotor excitability was measured by applying a single transcranial magnetic stimulation pulse to the M1 representation of the muscle erector spinae and participants scored their perception of the actor's pain on the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS). The participants scored vicarious pain as highest during the BACKPAIN condition and lowest during the LEG condition. MEP size was significantly lower for the LEG than the BACK and BACKPAIN condition. Although we found no statistical difference in the motor-evoked potential (MEP) size between the conditions BACK and BACKPAIN, there was a significant correlation between the difference in NPRS scores between the conditions BACKPAIN and BACK and the difference in MEP size between these conditions. Participants who believed the vicarious pain to be much stronger in the BACKPAIN than in the BACK condition also exhibited higher MEPs for the BACKPAIN than the BACK condition. Our results indicate that observing how others lift heavy objects facilitates motor representations of back muscles in the observer. Modulation occurs in a movement-specific manner and is additionally modulated by the extent to which the participants perceived the actor's pain. Our findings suggest that movement observation might be a promising paradigm to study the brain's response to back pain.

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“…Each domain can contribute to the modulation, and at times the propagation, of chronic pain. The cognitive dimension of pain has been demonstrated by investigating the roles that attention, distraction and memory play in altering pain perception [2,3]. Studies have shown that engaging attentional networks with cognitive loads can attenuate perceived pain for a given stimulus -a distraction mechanism of pain relief [4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation Modulates Cortical Gamma Activity in the Cognitive Dimension of Chronic Pain

et al. 2020

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A cognitive task, the n-back task, was used to interrogate the cognitive dimension of pain in patients with implanted dorsal root ganglion stimulators (DRGS). Magnetoencephalography (MEG) signals from thirteen patients with implanted DRGS were recorded at rest and while performing the n-back task at three increasing working memory loads with DRGS-OFF and the task repeated with DRGS-ON. MEG recordings were pre-processed, then power spectral analysis and source localization were conducted. DRGS resulted in a significant reduction in reported pain scores (mean 23%, p = 0.001) and gamma oscillatory activity (p = 0.036) during task performance. DRGS-induced pain relief also resulted in a significantly reduced reaction time during high working memory load (p = 0.011). A significant increase in average gamma power was observed during task performance compared to the resting state. However, patients who reported exacerbations of pain demonstrated a significantly elevated gamma power (F(3,80) = 65.011612, p < 0.001, adjusted p-value = 0.01), compared to those who reported pain relief during the task. Our findings demonstrate that gamma oscillatory activity is differentially modulated by cognitive load in the presence of pain, and this activity is predominantly localized to the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortices in a chronic pain cohort.

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Attention to pain! A neurocognitive perspective on attentional modulation of pain in neuroimaging studies

Cited by 86 publications

References 128 publications

What is new in the psychology of chronic itch?

What is new in the psychology of chronic itch?

Observing back pain provoking lifting actions modulates corticomotor excitability of the observer's primary motor cortex

Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation Modulates Cortical Gamma Activity in the Cognitive Dimension of Chronic Pain

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