Van Damme Stefaan, Lorenz Jürgen, Eccleston Christopher, Koster Ernst H W, De Clercq Armand, Crombez Geert
Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Neurophysiol Clin. 2004 Feb;34(1):33-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neucli.2003.11.001.
Selective attention to signals of impending pain allows the avoidance of bodily harm. In order to identify the attentional components involved in the selection of pain signals over competing demands, we used an emotional modification of an exogenous cueing task.
Fifty-two pain-free volunteers detected visual targets of which the location was correctly or incorrectly predicted by a spatial cue. Cues were emotionally modulated using differential classical conditioning. The conditioned cue (CS+) was sometimes followed by an electrocutaneous stimulus (UCS), thus becoming a pain signal, whereas the UCS never followed the other cue (CS-), referred to as safety signal.
Analyses of response times showed that pain signals facilitated the directing of attention to their location in comparison to safety signals. In contrast, pain signals did not impair disengagement of attention from their location in comparison to safety signals.
It is concluded that attention is more strongly engaged to a signal of impending pain compared with a cue signalling its absence. We explore why disengagement from the pain signal is not impaired compared to the safety signal. The findings are discussed in terms of the defensive importance of pain anticipation.
对即将到来的疼痛信号进行选择性注意可避免身体伤害。为了确定在与其他竞争性需求相比时，参与选择疼痛信号的注意成分，我们对外源性线索任务进行了情绪方面的调整。
52名无疼痛的志愿者检测视觉目标，其位置由空间线索正确或错误地预测。线索通过差异经典条件作用进行情绪调节。条件线索（CS+）有时会伴有电皮肤刺激（UCS），从而成为疼痛信号，而UCS从不跟随另一个线索（CS-），即安全信号。
反应时间分析表明，与安全信号相比，疼痛信号促进了对其位置的注意力指向。相比之下，与安全信号相比，疼痛信号在注意力从其位置脱离方面没有受损。
得出的结论是，与表示无疼痛的线索相比，注意力更强烈地被即将到来的疼痛信号所吸引。我们探讨了与安全信号相比，为何从疼痛信号脱离注意力没有受损。根据疼痛预期的防御重要性对研究结果进行了讨论。
