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The interruptive effect of pain on attention
David J Moore1, Edmund Keogh, Christopher Eccleston
1Centre for Pain Research, The University of Bath, Bath, UK.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|December 6, 2011
Summary
Experimentally induced pain impairs complex attentional tasks, specifically the n-back, attentional switching, and divided attention functions. This suggests pain demands executive control, impacting higher-order cognitive processes.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Pain Research
- Psychology
Background:
- Pain significantly impacts attentional performance in both healthy individuals and those with chronic pain.
- The specific attentional functions affected by pain require further systematic investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically examine the effects of experimentally induced pain on various attentional performance tasks.
- To identify which specific aspects of attention are most vulnerable to pain disruption.
Main Methods:
- Seven validated attentional tasks were selected: continuous performance, flanker, endogenous precueing, n-back, inhibition, attentional switching, and divided attention.
- Healthy adult participants completed these tasks under three conditions: painful heat, warm heat, and a non-heat control.
Main Results:
- Pain differentially impacted attentional performance across tasks.
- Significant attentional impairment due to pain was observed in the n-back, attentional switching, and divided attention tasks.
- No significant impairment was found on the continuous performance, flanker, endogenous precueing, or inhibition tasks.
Conclusions:
- Pain primarily affects attentional functions crucial for complex tasks requiring multi-cue processing and controlled attentional deployment.
- These findings support the view of pain as a cognitive demand on executive control.
- The results can inform the development of measures to assess attentional disruption in pain conditions.
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