Headache Impairs Attentional Performance: A Conceptual Replication and Extension

Pain is thought to capture our attention. A consequence is that our performance on other tasks may suffer. Research has supported this, showing that pain disrupts our ability to perform various attention tasks. However, the specific nature of the effect of pain on attention is inconsistent, possibly due to different studies investigating different types of pain. Few studies seek to replicate basic findings. In this study, we conceptually replicated and extended the headache study by Moore, Keogh, and Eccleston in 2013, by including 2 additional attention tasks, a broader sample, and measures of affect and pain cognition. Participants performed 5 complex attention tasks and a choice reaction time task with and without a naturally-occurring headache. Headache slowed reaction times to 4 of the 5 complex tasks, and this could be attributed to a slower basic processing speed measured using the choice reaction time task. Our findings differ from those of Moore et al in their headache study, suggesting that the effect of pain on attention is dynamic, even within a given type of pain. Whereas there is growing evidence that pain does disrupt attention, we cannot yet predict the specific nature of disruption in any given case.

We extended a study investigating the effect of headache on attention. Although both studies showed attentional disruption, the specific effects differed. Research must establish when and why the effect of pain on attention varies before we will be able to develop interventions to reduce attentional disruption from pain.