Höfle Marion, Kenntner-Mabiala Ramona, Pauli Paul, Alpers Georg W
University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Int J Psychophysiol. 2008 Dec;70(3):171-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2008.06.008. Epub 2008 Jun 28.
Pupil dilation is regulated autonomically and it may be a valid measure of pain, but pupillometry for pain intensity recordings has not been evaluated under different luminance conditions. We hypothesized that the pupil response may serve as an objective indicator of pain intensity even if luminance conditions differ which is often the case in experiments with pictures. In 20 healthy females we applied a tonic pressure pain to the fingers (20 s). During pain induction, participants looked at pictures of three different levels of luminance. Pupil dilation was recorded continuously. Immediately after pain onset, there was a significant pupil dilation which reached its maximum about 2 s after pain onset. While this maximum pupil dilation did not differ with pressure intensity, the pupil dilation was larger for the higher pressure intensity in the period from 10 s after pressure onset to pressure offset. Even under different luminance conditions, pupillometry can serve as an objective indicator of pressure pain intensity. Thus, it seems promising to use pupillometry with complex experimental designs combining pain and pictorial stimuli.
瞳孔扩张受自主神经系统调节，它可能是一种有效的疼痛测量指标，但用于记录疼痛强度的瞳孔测量法尚未在不同亮度条件下进行评估。我们假设，即使亮度条件不同（在图片实验中经常如此），瞳孔反应也可能作为疼痛强度的客观指标。在20名健康女性中，我们对手指施加持续压力疼痛（20秒）。在疼痛诱发期间，参与者观看三种不同亮度水平的图片。连续记录瞳孔扩张情况。疼痛开始后立即出现明显的瞳孔扩张，在疼痛开始后约2秒达到最大值。虽然这种最大瞳孔扩张与压力强度无关，但在压力开始后10秒至压力解除期间，较高压力强度下的瞳孔扩张更大。即使在不同亮度条件下，瞳孔测量法也可作为压力疼痛强度的客观指标。因此，将瞳孔测量法与结合疼痛和图像刺激的复杂实验设计相结合似乎很有前景。
