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Related Concept Videos

Analgesia and Pain Management01:25

Analgesia and Pain Management

Pain is critical to various clinical pathologies, provoking an urgent need for effective management. Pain, whether acute or chronic, is a complex neurochemical process. Its alleviation depends on the type, with nonopioid analgesics effective for mild to moderate pain, such as musculoskeletal or inflammatory pain, while neuropathic pain responds best to anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants, or serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. For severe acute or chronic pain, opioids may be...
Pain01:20

Pain

Pain serves as a critical warning signal that alerts the body to potential or actual harm. When mechanical pressure on the skin is intense, such as from a sharp pinch, the sensation transitions from touch to pain. Similarly, extreme temperatures, like a hot pot handle, convert the sensation of heat into pain. Pain can also result from overstimulation of other senses, such as blinding light, loud noise, or the intense heat from habañero peppers. This ability to sense pain is essential for...
Nociception01:44

Nociception

Nociception—the ability to feel pain—is essential for an organism’s survival and overall well-being. Noxious stimuli such as piercing pain from a sharp object, heat from an open flame, or contact with corrosive chemicals are first detected by sensory receptors, called nociceptors, located on nerve endings. Nociceptors express ion channels that convert noxious stimuli into electrical signals. When these signals reach the brain via sensory neurons, they are perceived as pain. Thus, pain helps the...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

Psychophysically-anchored, Robust Thresholding in Studying Pain-related Lateralization of Oscillatory Prestimulus Activity
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Orienting attention modulates pain perception: an ERP study.

Sam C C Chan1, Chetwyn C H Chan, Anne S K Kwan

  • 1Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.

Plos One
|July 7, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Focusing attention on a pain stimulus and then shifting to a mental image can reduce pain perception. This mental strategy involves inhibiting responses and rehearsing images in working memory.

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Measurement of Neurophysiological Signals of Ignoring and Attending Processes in Attention Control

Published on: July 5, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Chronic pain sufferers struggle to disengage attention from pain.
  • A focus-then-orient strategy can modulate pain perception by shifting attention.
  • Event-related potentials (ERPs) are used to investigate cognitive processes in pain modulation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neural mechanisms underlying the focus-then-orient attention strategy for pain modulation.
  • To examine how shifting attention between nociceptive and sub-nociceptive stimuli affects pain perception.
  • To explore the role of working memory and response inhibition in this pain modulation strategy.

Main Methods:

  • Eighteen healthy participants received controlled nociceptive electrical stimulation.
  • Participants engaged in perception trials (maintaining nociceptive stimulus) and imagery trials (generating sub-nociceptive images).
  • Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during the task, and pain intensity was rated post-trial.

Main Results:

  • Shifting attention elicited specific ERPs (P2, P3, N400, P600) associated with cognitive processes.
  • These ERPs correlated with performance on the Stroop Test, indicating response inhibition.
  • The magnitude of these ERPs correlated with reduced self-reported pain intensity.

Conclusions:

  • The focus-and-orient strategy involves response inhibition and is linked to ERP modulation.
  • Mental rehearsal of sub-nociceptive images in working memory effectively modulates pain perception.
  • Further research is needed to apply this strategy to individuals with pathological pain and cognitive deficits.