Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Neural mechanisms underlying attentional bias modification in fibromyalgia patients: a double-blind ERP study

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

There is a growing interest in the potential benefits of attentional bias modification (ABM) training in chronic pain patients. However, studies examining the effectiveness of ABM programs in fibromyalgia patients have demonstrated inconclusive effects on both behavioral indices and clinical symptoms. Additionally, underlying neural dynamics of ABM effects could yield new insights but remain yet unexplored. Current study, therefore, aims to investigate the effects of ABM training on known neural electrophysiological indicators of attentional bias to pain (P2, N2a). Thirty-two fibromyalgia patients were enrolled and randomly assigned to an ABM training (N = 16) or control (N = 16) condition (2 weeks duration). Within the ABM training condition participants performed five sessions consisting of a modified version of the dot-probe task in which patients were trained to avoid facial pain expressions, whereas in the control group participants performed five sessions consisting of a standard version of the dot-probe task. Potential ABM training effects were evaluated by comparing a single pre- and post-treatment session, in which event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to both facial expressions and target stimuli. Furthermore, patients filled out a series of self-report questionnaires assessing anxiety, depression, pain-related worrying, fear of pain, fatigue and pain status. After training, results indicated an overall reduction of the amplitude of the P2 component followed by an enhancement of N2a amplitude for the ABM condition compared to control condition. In addition, scores on anxiety and depression decreased in patients assigned to the training condition. However, we found no effects derived from the training on pain-related and fatigue status. Present study offers new insights related to the possible neural mechanisms underlying the effect of ABM training in fibromyalgia. Clinical trial (TRN: NCT05905159) retrospectively registered (30/05/2023).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Data are avaliable on https://osf.io/dut8r/.

References

  1. Bar-Haim Y (2010) Research review: attention bias modification (ABM): a novel treatment for anxiety disorders. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 51(8):859–870. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02251.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Barjola P, Peláez I, Ferrera D, González-Gutiérrez JL, Velasco L, Peñacoba-Puente C, López-López A, Fernandes-Magalhaes R, Mercado F (2022) Electrophysiological indices of pain expectation abnormalities in fibromyalgia patients. Frontiers Human Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2022.943976

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Beard C, Sawyer AT, Hofmann SG (2012) Efficacy of attention bias modification using threat and appetitive stimuli: A meta-analytic review. Behav Ther 43(4):724–740

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Beck AT (1961) An inventory for measuring depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 4(6):561. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.1961.01710120031004

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Boonstra AM, Preuper HRS, Reneman MF, Posthumus JB, Stewart RE (2008) Reliability and validity of the visual analogue scale for disability in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Int J Rehabil Res 31(2):165–169

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Boston A, Sharpe L (2005) The role of threat-expectancy in acute pain: effects on attentional bias, coping strategy effectiveness and response to pain. Pain 119(1–3):168–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2005.09.032

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Buela-Casal G, Guillén-Riquelme A, Seisdedos Cubero N (2011) Cuestionario de ansiedad estado-rasgo: Adaptación española. TEA Ediciones, Madrid

    Google Scholar 

  8. Burckhardt CS, Clark SR, Bennett RM (1991) The fibromyalgia impact questionnaire: development and validation. Journal of Rheumatoly 18(5):728–733

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Carleton RN, Asmundson GJG, Korol SL, LeBouthillier DM, Hozempa K, Katz JD, Vlaeyen JWS, Crombez G (2020) Evaluating the efficacy of an attention modification program for patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Pain 161(3):584–594

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Carleton RN, Richter AA, Asmundson GJG (2011) Attention modification in persons with fibromyalgia: a double blind. Randomized Clinical Trial Cognitive Behaviour Therapy 40(4):279–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2011.616218

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Carlson JM (2021) A systematic review of event-related potentials as outcome measures of attention bias modification. Psychophysiology 58(6):e13801. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13801

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Carlsson AM (1983) Assessment of chronic pain. I. Aspects of the reliability and validity of the visual analogue scale. Pain 16(1):87–101

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Carretié L (2014) Exogenous (automatic) attention to emotional stimuli: a review. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 14(4):1228–1258. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13415-014-0270-2

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Carretié L, Kessel D, Carboni A, López-Martín S, Albert J, Tapia M, Mercado F, Capilla A, Hinojosa JA (2013) Exogenous attention to facial vs non-facial emotional visual stimuli. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 8(7):764–773. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nss068

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Carretié L, Ruiz-Padial E, López-Martín S, Albert J (2011) Decomposing unpleasantness: differential exogenous attention to disgusting and fearful stimuli. Biol Psychol 86(3):247–253. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.12.005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Chapman A, Devue C, Grimshaw GM (2019) Fleeting reliability in the dot-probe task. Psychol Res 83(2):308–320

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Clarke PJ, MacLeod C, Guastella AJ (2013) Assessing the role of spatial engagement and disengagement of attention in anxiety-linked attentional bias: a critique of current paradigms and suggestions for future research directions. Anxiety Stress Coping 26(1):1–19

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Crombez G, De Paepe AL, Veirman E, Eccleston C, Verleysen G, Van Ryckeghem DML (2020) Let’s talk about pain catastrophizing measures: an item content analysis. PeerJ 8:e8643. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.8643

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Crombez G, Eccleston C, Van Damme S, Vlaeyen JWS, Karoly P (2012) Fear-avoidance model of chronic pain. Clin J Pain 28(6):475–483. https://doi.org/10.1097/AJP.0b013e3182385392

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Crombez G, Van Ryckeghem D, Eccleston C, Van Damme S (2013) Attentional bias to pain-related information: a meta-analysis. Pain 154(4):497–510. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2012.11.013

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Dan O, Zreik G, Raz S (2020) The relationship between individuals with fearful-avoidant adult attachment orientation and early neural responses to emotional content: an event-related potentials (ERPs) study. Neuropsychology 34(2):155–167. https://doi.org/10.1037/neu0000600

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Dear BF, Sharpe L, Nicholas MK, Refshauge K (2011) The Psychometric properties of the dot-probe paradigm when used in pain-related attentional bias research. J Pain 12(12):1247–1254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2011.07.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Dennis-Tiwary TA, Denefrio S, Gelber S (2017) Salutary effects of an attention bias modification mobile application on biobehavioral measures of stress and anxiety during pregnancy. Biol Psychol 127:148–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.05.003

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Dennis-Tiwary TA, Egan LJ, Babkirk S, Denefrio S (2016) For whom the bell tolls: neurocognitive individual differences in the acute stress-reduction effects of an attention bias modification game for anxiety. Behav Res Ther 77:105–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2015.12.008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Dennis TA, Chen C-C (2007) Neurophysiological mechanisms in the emotional modulation of attention: the interplay between threat sensitivity and attentional control. Biol Psychol 76(1–2):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2007.05.001

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Dick B, Eccleston C, Crombez G (2002) Attentional functioning in fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and musculoskeletal pain patients. Arthritis Rheum 47(6):639–644. https://doi.org/10.1002/art.10800

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Doallo S, Holguín SR, Cadaveira F (2006) Attentional load affects automatic emotional processing: evidence from event-related potentials. NeuroReport 17(17):1797–1801. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.wnr.0000246325.51191.39

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Eccleston C, Crombez G (1999) Pain demands attention: A cognitive–affective model of the interruptive function of pain. Psychol Bull 125(3):356

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Eldar S, Bar-Haim Y (2010) Neural plasticity in response to attention training in anxiety. Psychol Med 40(4):667–677. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291709990766

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Eldar S, Yankelevitch R, Lamy D, Bar-Haim Y (2010) Enhanced neural reactivity and selective attention to threat in anxiety. Biol Psychol 85(2):252–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.07.010

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Falkenstein M, Hoormann J, Hohnsbein J (1999) ERP components in Go/Nogo tasks and their relation to inhibition. Acta Physiol (Oxf) 101(2–3):267–291. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0001-6918(99)00008-6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Faul F, Erdfelder E, Lang A-G, Buchner A (2007) G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behav Res Methods 39(2):175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03193146

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Fernandes-Magalhaes R, Carpio A, Ferrera D, Van Ryckeghem D, Peláez I, Barjola P, De Lahoz ME, Martín-Buro MC, Hinojosa JA, Van Damme S, Carretié L, Mercado F (2022) Pain E-motion faces database (PEMF): pain-related micro-clips for emotion research. Behav Res Methods. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-022-01992-4

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Fernandes-Magalhaes R, Ferrera D, Peláez I, Martín-Buro MC, Carpio A, De Lahoz ME, Barjola P, Mercado F (2022) Neural correlates of the attentional bias towards pain-related faces in fibromyalgia patients: An ERP study using a dot-probe task. Neuropsychologia 166:108141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2021.108141

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Ferrera D, Gómez-Esquer F, Peláez I, Barjola P, Fernandes-Magalhaes R, Carpio A, De Lahoz ME, Martín-Buro MC, Mercado F (2022) Working memory dysfunction in fibromyalgia is associated with genotypes of the catechol- O-methyltransferase gene: an event-related potential study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-022-01488-4

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Fischer-Jbali LR, Montoro CI, Montoya P, Halder W, Duschek S (2022) Central nervous activity during a dot probe task with facial expressions in fibromyalgia. Biol Psychol 172:108361. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108361

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Folstein JR, Van Petten C (2007) Influence of cognitive control and mismatch on the N2 component of the ERP: a review. Psychophysiology 45(1):070915195953001–000. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8986.2007.00602.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. García Campayo, J., Rodero, B., Marta Alda, M., Sobradiel, N., Montero, J., & Moreno, S. (2008). Validación de la versión española de la escala de la catastrofización ante el dolor (Pain Catastrophizing Scale) en la fibromialgia. Med. Clín (Ed. Impr.), 487–493.

  39. Grant S, Booth M, Khodyakov D (2018) Lack of preregistered analysis plans allows unacceptable data mining for and selective reporting of consensus in Delphi studies. J Clin Epidemiol 99:96–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2018.03.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Grant S, Aitchison T, Henderson E, Christie J, Zare S, Mc Murray J, Dargie H (1999) A comparison of the reproducibility and the sensitivity to change of visual analogue scales, Borg scales, and Likert scales in normal subjects during submaximal exercise. Chest 116(5):1208–1217

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Gratton G, Coles MG, Donchin E (1983) A new method for off-line removal of ocular artifact. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 55(4):468–484. https://doi.org/10.1016/0013-4694(83)90135-9

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Guillén-Riquelmeé A, Buela-Casal G, (2011). Actualizacion psicometrica y funcionamiento diferencial de los items en el State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Psicothema.

  43. Gupta RS, Kujawa A, Vago DR (2019) The neural chronometry of threat-related attentional bias: Event-related potential (ERP) evidence for early and late stages of selective attentional processing. Int J Psychophysiol 146:20–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2019.08.006

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  44. Hakamata Y, Lissek S, Bar-Haim Y, Britton JC, Fox NA, Leibenluft E, Ernst M, Pine DS (2010) Attention bias modification treatment: a meta-analysis toward the establishment of novel treatment for anxiety. Biol Psychiat 68(11):982–990

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Hallion LS, Ruscio AM (2011) A meta-analysis of the effect of cognitive bias modification on anxiety and depression. Psychol Bull 137(6):940–958. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024355

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  46. Heathcote LC, Jacobs K, Van Ryckeghem D, Fisher E, Eccleston C, Fox E, Lau JYF (2018) Attention bias modification training for adolescents with chronic pain: a randomized placebo-controlled trial. Pain 159(2):239–251. https://doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001084

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  47. Heeren A, De Raedt R, Koster EHW, Philippot P (2013) The (neuro)cognitive mechanisms behind attention bias modification in anxiety: proposals based on theoretical accounts of attentional bias. Front Hum Neurosci 7(April):1–6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Hinojosa JA, Mercado F, Carretié L (2015) N170 sensitivity to facial expression: A meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 55:498–509. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.06.002

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. Huang Y-X, Luo Y-J (2006) Temporal course of emotional negativity bias: An ERP study. Neurosci Lett 398(1–2):91–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2005.12.074

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  50. Kappenman ES, MacNamara A, Proudfit GH (2015) Electrocortical evidence for rapid allocation of attention to threat in the dot-probe task. Social Cognitive Affective Neurosci 10(4):577–583. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Lázaro C, Caseras X, Whizar-Lugo VM, Wenk R, Baldioceda F, Bernal R, Ovalle A, Torrubia R, Baños JE (2001) Psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the McGill Pain Questionnaire in several Spanish-speaking countries. Clin J Pain 17(4):365–374

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  52. Leeuw M, Goossens MEJB, Linton SJ, Crombez G, Boersma K, Vlaeyen JWS (2007) The fear-avoidance model of musculoskeletal pain: current state of scientific evidence. J Behav Med 30(1):77–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-006-9085-0

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  53. Liossi C (2012) Attentional biases in chronic pain: do they exist and does it really matter? Pain 153(1):9–10

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  54. Ma L, Kruijt A-W, Nöjd S, Zetterlund E, Andersson G, Carlbring P (2019) Attentional bias modification in virtual reality–a VR-based dot-probe task with 2D and 3D stimuli. Front Psychol 10:2526

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  55. MacLeod C, Grafton B, Notebaert L (2019) Anxiety-linked attentional bias: is it reliable? Annu Rev Clin Psychol 15(1):529–554. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095505

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. McGowan N, Sharpe L, Refshauge K, Nicholas MK (2009) The effect of attentional re-training and threat expectancy in response to acute pain. Pain 142(1–2):101–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2008.12.009

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  57. McNeil DW, Rainwater AJ (1998) Development of the fear of pain questionnaire-III. J Behav Med 21(4):389–410. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018782831217

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  58. Mercado F, Barjola P, Fernndez-Snchez M, Guerra V, Gmez-Esquer F (2013) Brain function in fibromyalgia: altered pain processing and cognitive dysfunction in functional brain mapping and the endeavor to understand the working brain. InTech. https://doi.org/10.5772/56495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Mercado F, Carretié L, Hinojosa JA, Penacoba C (2009) Two successive phases in the threat-related attentional response of anxious subjects: neural correlates. Depress Anxiety 26(12):1141–1150

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  60. Mercado F, Ferrera D, Fernandes-Magalhaes R, Peláez I, Barjola P (2022) Altered subprocesses of working memory in patients with fibromyalgia: an event-related potential study using N -back task. Pain Med 23(3):475–487. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnab190

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  61. Miró J, Nieto R, Huguet A (2008) The catalan version of the pain catastrophizing scale: a useful instrument to assess catastrophic thinking in whiplash patients. J Pain 9(5):397–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2007.12.004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  62. Mogoaşe C, David D, Koster EHW (2014) Clinical efficacy of attentional bias modification procedures: an updated meta-analysis. J Clin Psychol 70(12):1133–1157. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22081

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  63. Mueller EM, Hofmann SG, Santesso DL, Meuret AE, Bitran S, Pizzagalli DA (2009) Electrophysiological evidence of attentional biases in social anxiety disorder. Psychol Med 39(7):1141–1152

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  64. Munafò MR, Stevenson J (2003) Selective processing of threat-related cues in day surgery patients and prediction of post-operative pain. Br J Health Psychol 8(4):439–449. https://doi.org/10.1348/135910703770238293

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  65. O’Toole L, Dennis TA (2012) Attention training and the threat bias: An ERP study. Brain Cogn 78(1):63–73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2011.10.007

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  66. Pidal-Miranda M, González-Villar AJ, Carrillo-de-la-Peña MT (2019) pain expressions and inhibitory control in patients with fibromyalgia: behavioral and neural correlates. Front Behav Neurosci 12:1–10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00323

    Article  Google Scholar 

  67. Pincus T, Morley S (2001) Cognitive-processing bias in chronic pain: a review and integration. Psychol Bull 127(5):599–617. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.127.5.599

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  68. Pourtois G, Grandjean D, Sander D, Vuilleumier P (2004) Electrophysiological correlates of rapid spatial orienting towards fearful faces. Cereb Cortex 14(6):619–633

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  69. Price RB, Kuckertz JM, Siegle GJ, Ladouceur CD, Silk JS, Ryan ND, Dahl RE, Amir N (2015) Empirical recommendations for improving the stability of the dot-probe task in clinical research. Psychol Assess 27(2):365–376. https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000036

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  70. Reutter M, Hewig J, Wieser MJ, Osinsky R (2017) The N2pc component reliably captures attentional bias in social anxiety. Psychophysiology 54(4):519–527. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12809

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  71. Rivera J, González T, (2004). The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire: a validated Spanish version to assess the health status in women with fibromyalgia. Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology, 22 (5), 554–560. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15485007

  72. Rossignol M, Campanella S, Bissot C, Philippot P (2013) Fear of negative evaluation and attentional bias for facial expressions: An event-related study. Brain Cogn 82(3):344–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2013.05.008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  73. Sallard E, Hartmann L, Ptak R, Spierer L (2018) Spatiotemporal brain dynamics underlying attentional bias modifications. Int J Psychophysiol 130:29–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2018.06.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  74. Samartin-Veiga N, González-Villar AJ, Carrillo-de-la-Peña MT (2019) Neural correlates of cognitive dysfunction in fibromyalgia patients Reduced brain electrical activity during the execution of a cognitive control task. NeuroImage Clinical. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101817

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  75. Sanz J, Vázquez C, (1998). Fiabilidad, validez y datos normativos del Inventario para la Depresión de Beck. Psicothema, 303–318.

  76. Sass SM, Evans TC, Xiong K, Mirghassemi F, Tran H (2017) Attention training to pleasant stimuli in anxiety. Biol Psychol 122:80–92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2016.03.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  77. Schmukle SC (2005) Unreliability of the dot probe task. Eur J Pers 19(7):595–605. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  78. Schoth DE, Georgallis T, Liossi C (2013) Attentional bias modification in people with chronic pain: a proof of concept study. Cogn Behav Ther 42(3):233–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2013.777105

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  79. Schoth DE, Nunes VD, Liossi C (2012) Attentional bias towards pain-related information in chronic pain; a meta-analysis of visual-probe investigations. Clin Psychol Rev 32(1):13–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2011.09.004

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  80. Sharpe L, Ianiello M, Dear BF, Perry KN, Refshauge K, Nicholas MK (2012) Is there a potential role for attention bias modification in pain patients? results of 2 randomised, controlled trials. Pain 153(3):722–731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2011.12.014

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  81. Sharpe L, Johnson A, Dear BF (2015) Attention bias modification and its impact on experimental pain outcomes: Comparison of training with words versus faces in pain. Eur J Pain 19(9):1248–1257. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejp.648

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  82. Sharpe L, Perry NK, Rogers P, Dear BF, Nicholas MK, Refshauge K (2010) A comparison of the effect of attention training and relaxation on responses to pain. Pain 150(3):469–476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2010.05.027

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  83. Simon D, Craig KD, Gosselin F, Belin P, Rainville P (2008) Recognition and discrimination of prototypical dynamic expressions of pain and emotions. Pain 135(1–2):55–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2007.05.008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  84. Solé E, Castarlenas E, Sánchez-Rodríguez E, Galán S, de la Vega R, Jensen MP, Miró J (2019) The reliability and validity of the Spanish version of the Fear of Pain Questionnaire. J Health Psychol 24(8):1134–1144. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316686669

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  85. Spielberger CD, (2010) State‐Trait anxiety inventory. The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1.

  86. Staugaard SR (2009) Reliability of two versions of the dot-probe task using photographic faces. Psychology Science 51(3):339–350

    Google Scholar 

  87. Sullivan M, Bishop S, Pivik J (1995) The pain catastrophizing scale: development and validation. Psychol Assess 7(4):524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  88. Sullivan M, Lynch ME, Clark AJ, Mankovsky T, Sawynok J (2008) Catastrophizing and treatment outcome: differential impact on response to placebo and active treatment outcome. Contemp Hypn 25(3–4):129–140. https://doi.org/10.1002/ch.365

    Article  Google Scholar 

  89. Suway JG, White LK, Vanderwert RE, Bar-Haim Y, Pine DS, Fox NA (2013) Modification of threat-processing in non-anxious individuals: a preliminary behavioral and ERP study. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry 44(3):285–292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2012.11.006

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  90. Sylvain R, Gilbertson H, Carlson JM (2020) Single session positive attention bias modification training enhances reward-related electrocortical responses in females. Int J Psychophysiol 156:10–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2020.07.002

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  91. Tayama J, Saigo T, Ogawa S, Takeoka A, Hamaguchi T, Inoue K, Okamura H, Yajima J, Matsudaira K, Fukudo S, Shirabe S (2018) Effect of attention bias modification on event-related potentials in patients with irritable bowel syndrome: A preliminary brain function and psycho-behavioral study. Neurogastroenterology Motility. https://doi.org/10.1111/nmo.13402

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  92. Thai N, Taber-Thomas BC, Pérez-Edgar KE (2016) Neural correlates of attention biases, behavioral inhibition, and social anxiety in children: An ERP study. Dev Cogn Neurosci 19:200–210

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  93. Todd J, Sharpe L, Colagiuri B (2016) Attentional bias modification and pain: the role of sensory and affective stimuli. Behav Res Ther 83:53–61

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  94. Todd J, Sharpe L, Johnson A, Perry KN, Colagiuri B, Dear BF (2015) Towards a new model of attentional biases in the development, maintenance, and management of pain. Pain 156(9):1589–1600

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  95. Todd J, Van Ryckeghem D, Sharpe L, Crombez G (2018) Attentional bias to pain-related information: a meta-analysis of dot-probe studies. Health Psychol Rev 12(4):419–436. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2018.1521729

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  96. Torrence RD, Troup LJ (2018) Event-related potentials of attentional bias toward faces in the dot-probe task: a systematic review. Psychophysiology 55(6):e13051. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13051

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  97. Urech A, Krieger T, Chesham A, Mast FW, Berger T (2015) Virtual reality-based attention bias modification training for social anxiety: a feasibility and proof of concept study. Front Psych 6:154

    Google Scholar 

  98. Van Rooijen R, Ploeger A, Kret ME (2017) The dot-probe task to measure emotional attention: a suitable measure in comparative studies? Psychon Bull Rev 24(6):1686–1717

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  99. Van Ryckeghem D, Crombez G, (2018). Pain and Attention (Vol. 1). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190627898.003.0006

  100. Van Ryckeghem D, Crombez G, Goubert L, De Houwer J, Onraedt T, Van Damme S (2013) The predictive value of attentional bias towards pain-related information in chronic pain patients: a diary study. Pain 154(3):468–475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2012.12.008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  101. Van Ryckeghem D, Noel M, Sharpe L, Pincus T, Van Damme S (2019) Cognitive biases in pain: an integrated functional–contextual framework. Pain 160(7):1489–1493

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  102. Van Ryckeghem D, Van Damme S, Vervoort T (2018) Does attention bias modification training impact on task performance in the context of pain: an experimental study in healthy participants. PLoS ONE 13(7):e0200629. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0200629

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  103. Van Veen V, Carter C (2002) The anterior cingulate as a conflict monitor: fMRI and ERP studies. Physiol Behav 77(4–5):477–482. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-9384(02)00930-7

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  104. VanLaarhoven AIM, Becker JM, van Ryckeghem DML, Van Damme S, Crombez G, Wiers R (2021) Attentional bias modification training for itch: A proof-of-principle study in healthy individuals. Frontiers Med. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2021.627593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  105. Vázquez C, Sanz J (1999) Fiabilidad y validez de la versión española del Inventario para la depresión de Beck de 1978 en pacientes con trastornos psicológicos. Clinical and Health 10(1):59–81

    Google Scholar 

  106. Vermeir JF, White MJ, Johnson D, Crombez G, Van Ryckeghem D (2022) Gamified web-delivered attentional bias modification training for adults with chronic pain: protocol for a randomized, double-blind. Placebo-Controlled Trial JMIR Res Protocols 11(1):e32359. https://doi.org/10.2196/32359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  107. Vlaeyen JWS, Linton SJ (2000) Fear-avoidance and its consequences in chronic musculoskeletal pain: a state of the art. Pain 85(3):317–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3959(99)00242-0

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  108. Vlaeyen JWS, Linton SJ (2012) Fear-avoidance model of chronic musculoskeletal pain: 12 years on. Pain 153(6):1144–1147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2011.12.009

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  109. Vlaeyen JWS, Morley S, Crombez G (2016) The experimental analysis of the interruptive, interfering, and identity-distorting effects of chronic pain. Behav Res Ther 86:23–34

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  110. Wang Y, Zhang X, Gao J, Zhang L, Jiang J, (2022). The effect of immersive virtual reality‐based attentional bias modification on anxiety mitigation in healthy population. PsyCh Journal.

  111. Wasan AD, Kaptchuk TJ, Davar G, Jamison RN (2006) The association between psychopathology and placebo analgesia in patients with discogenic low back pain. Pain Med 7(3):217–228

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  112. Wolfe F (2004) Fatigue assessments in rheumatoid arthritis: comparative performance of visual analog scales and longer fatigue questionnaires in 7760 patients. J Rheumatol 31(10):1896–1902

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  113. Wolfe F, Clauw DJ, Fitzcharles M-A, Goldenberg DL, Häuser W, Katz RL, Mease PJ, Russell AS, Russell IJ, Walitt B (2016) 2016 Revisions to the 2010/2011 fibromyalgia diagnostic criteria. Semin Arthritis Rheum 46(3):319–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2016.08.012

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  114. Wolfe F, Smythe HA, Yunus MB, Bennett RM, Bombardier C, Goldenberg DL, Tugwell P, Campbell SM, Abeles M, Clark P, Fam AG, Farber SJ, Fiechtner J, Michael Franklin C, Gatter RA, Hamaty D, Lessard J, Lichtbroun AS, Masi AT, Sheon RP (1990) The american college of rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia. Arthritis and Rheumatism 33(2):160–172. https://doi.org/10.1002/art.1780330203

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all participants for taking part in the experiment.

Funding

This work was supported by grants PID2020-115463RB-I00 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain and SAPIENTIA-CM H2019/HUM-5705 of the Comunidad de Madrid. Dimitri Van Ryckeghem is supported by funding from FNR Core Junior programme (Painflex; Nr. 12671141).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Av. Atenas s/n, 28922, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain

    Roberto Fernandes-Magalhaes, Alberto Carpio, David Ferrera, Irene Peláez, María Eugenia De Lahoz & Francisco Mercado

  2. Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands

    Dimitri Van Ryckeghem

  3. Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg

    Dimitri Van Ryckeghem

  4. Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Dimitri Van Ryckeghem & Stefaan Van Damme

Authors
  1. Roberto Fernandes-Magalhaes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alberto Carpio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. David Ferrera
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Irene Peláez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. María Eugenia De Lahoz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Dimitri Van Ryckeghem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Stefaan Van Damme
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Francisco Mercado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

RFM: Conceptualization, methodology, software, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, writing-original draft and visualization, AC: Validation and investigation, DF: Software, investigation and data curation, IP: Investigation and writing-review and editing, MEdlH: Validation and investigation, DVR: Conceptualization, supervision and writing-review and editing, SVD: Conceptualization, supervision and writing-review and editing, FM: Conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, writing-original draft, visualization, resources, supervision, project administration and founding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francisco Mercado.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fernandes-Magalhaes, R., Carpio, A., Ferrera, D. et al. Neural mechanisms underlying attentional bias modification in fibromyalgia patients: a double-blind ERP study. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-023-01709-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-023-01709-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation