Krahé Charlotte, Drabek Marianne M, Paloyelis Yannis, Fotopoulou Aikaterini
Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
Arthritis Research UK Pain Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2016 Nov 19;371(1708). doi: 10.1098/rstb.2016.0009. Epub 2016 Oct 10.
Affective touch and cutaneous pain are two sub-modalities of interoception with contrasting affective qualities (pleasantness/unpleasantness) and social meanings (care/harm), yet their direct relationship has not been investigated. In 50 women, taking into account individual attachment styles, we assessed the role of affective touch and particularly the contribution of the C tactile (CT) system in subjective and electrophysiological responses to noxious skin stimulation, namely N1 and N2-P2 laser-evoked potentials. When pleasant, slow (versus fast) velocity touch was administered to the (non-CT-containing) palm of the hand, higher attachment anxiety predicted increased subjective pain ratings, in the same direction as changes in N2 amplitude. By contrast, when pleasant touch was administered to CT-containing skin of the arm, higher attachment anxiety predicted attenuated N1 and N2 amplitudes. Higher attachment avoidance predicted opposite results. Thus, CT-based affective touch can modulate pain in early and late processing stages (N1 and N2 components), with the direction of effects depending on attachment style. Affective touch not involving the CT system seems to affect predominately the conscious perception of pain, possibly reflecting socio-cognitive factors further up the neurocognitive hierarchy. Affective touch may thus convey information about available social resources and gate pain responses depending on individual expectations of social support.This article is part of the themed issue 'Interoception beyond homeostasis: affect, cognition and mental health'.
情感触觉和皮肤疼痛是内感受的两种亚模式，具有相反的情感特质（愉悦/不悦）和社会意义（关怀/伤害），但其直接关系尚未得到研究。在50名女性中，考虑到个体依恋风格，我们评估了情感触觉的作用，特别是C触觉（CT）系统在对有害皮肤刺激（即N1和N2 - P2激光诱发电位）的主观和电生理反应中的贡献。当对手掌（不含CT）进行愉悦的慢速（而非快速）触摸时，更高的依恋焦虑预示着主观疼痛评分增加，与N2波幅变化方向相同。相比之下，当对含CT的手臂皮肤进行愉悦触摸时，更高的依恋焦虑预示着N1和N2波幅减弱。更高的依恋回避预示着相反的结果。因此，基于CT的情感触觉可以在早期和晚期处理阶段（N1和N2成分）调节疼痛，其影响方向取决于依恋风格。不涉及CT系统的情感触觉似乎主要影响疼痛的意识感知，这可能反映了神经认知层次中更高层次的社会认知因素。情感触觉因此可能传达有关可用社会资源的信息，并根据个体对社会支持的期望调节疼痛反应。本文是主题为“超越内稳态的内感受：情感、认知和心理健康”的特刊的一部分。
