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Related Experiment Videos

Don't look now! Pain and attention.

Candida McCabe1, Jenny Lewis, Nicholas Shenker

  • 1Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath. candy.mccabe@rnhrd-tr.swest.nhs.uk

Clinical Medicine (London, England)
|November 5, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Altering attention influences pain perception by affecting cortical activity. Focusing on sensory disturbances may worsen symptoms, as seen in fibromyalgia, suggesting new therapeutic approaches.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Pain Research
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Attention and pain are intrinsically linked, with historical therapeutic applications in distraction and focused attention.
  • Neuroimaging and clinical data confirm that attention modulation alters cortical activity, impacting pain perception positively or negatively.
  • Emerging theories propose cortical remapping and visual attention are crucial in pain models, particularly within the motor control system.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the role of attention in pain perception and its connection to the motor control system.
  • To investigate how the interplay between external (allocentric) and internal (egocentric) stimuli influences somatosensory experiences.
  • To propose a cortical model explaining the diverse symptoms of fibromyalgia through attentional mechanisms.

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Main Methods:

  • Review of existing imaging evidence and clinical observations on attention manipulation and pain.
  • Theoretical exploration of cortical remapping and visual attention within the motor control system.
  • Discussion of a therapeutic optokinetic device for motor control system imbalances.

Main Results:

  • Attention significantly impacts cortical processing, influencing pain perception.
  • Conflicts between external and internal stimuli, when over-attended, can lead to somatosensory disturbances.
  • Excessive attention to these disturbances may explain fibromyalgia's varied symptoms.

Conclusions:

  • Attention plays a critical role in the cortical processing of pain.
  • Dysregulation in the motor control system's processing of sensory stimuli, exacerbated by attention, may underlie fibromyalgia.
  • Therapeutic interventions targeting motor control system imbalances show potential for managing pain.