Barcatta Katharina, Holl Elisabeth, Battistutta Layla, van der Meulen Marian, Rischer Katharina M
Department of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
Front Pain Res (Lausanne). 2022 Jan 5;2:800258. doi: 10.3389/fpain.2021.800258. eCollection 2021.
Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful method of redirecting attention away from pain. Yet, little is known about which factors modulate the size of this distraction effect. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of cognitive load and inter-individual differences in the cognitive and affective domain on heat pain thresholds during a VR game. Ninety healthy participants (mean age ± SD: 23.46 ± 3.28; 50% identified as male and 50% as female) played a low and high load version of a VR game while heat pain thresholds and heart rate were recorded. The effects of cognitive load were assessed by computing the difference in pain thresholds between the high and low load condition for each participant. In addition, we computed the difference in heart rate variability (HRV) measures between both conditions to explore whether these would be correlated with the difference in heat pain thresholds. Prior to the VR session, participants completed questionnaires about their emotional distress, pain-related cognitions, and different executive functioning tasks. Contrary to our expectations, not all participants benefitted from a higher load in terms of distraction from pain. Logistic regression analysis revealed that participants who reported more emotional distress were more likely to exhibit higher pain thresholds in the low relative to the high load condition. Accordingly, these participants tended to show marginally higher HRV in the low compared to the high load condition. Our study demonstrates that the potential benefits of an increased cognitive load in VR on pain sensitivity depends on individual differences in affective state.
虚拟现实（VR）是一种将注意力从疼痛上转移开的有效方法。然而，对于哪些因素会调节这种分心效应的大小，我们知之甚少。本研究的目的是调查认知负荷以及认知和情感领域的个体差异在VR游戏期间对热痛阈值的作用。90名健康参与者（平均年龄±标准差：23.46±3.28；50%为男性，50%为女性）在玩低负荷和高负荷版本的VR游戏时，记录了热痛阈值和心率。通过计算每位参与者在高负荷和低负荷条件下疼痛阈值的差异来评估认知负荷的影响。此外，我们计算了两种条件下心率变异性（HRV）测量值的差异，以探讨这些差异是否与热痛阈值的差异相关。在进行VR实验之前，参与者完成了关于他们的情绪困扰、疼痛相关认知以及不同执行功能任务的问卷调查。与我们的预期相反，并非所有参与者在从疼痛中分心方面都因更高的负荷而受益。逻辑回归分析显示，报告情绪困扰更多的参与者在低负荷条件下相对于高负荷条件更有可能表现出更高的疼痛阈值。因此，与高负荷条件相比，这些参与者在低负荷条件下的HRV往往略高。我们的研究表明，VR中增加的认知负荷对疼痛敏感性的潜在益处取决于情感状态的个体差异。
